Legendary birds

constellation

Tucana (The Toucan) is a constellation in the southern sky, named after the toucan, a South American bird. It is one of twelve constellations conceived in the late sixteenth century by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman. Tucana first appeared on a celestial globe published in 1598 in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius and was depicted in Johann Bayer's star atlas Uranometria of 1603. French explorer and astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille gave its stars Bayer designations in 1756. The constellations Tucana, Grus, Phoenix and Pavo a

Garuda (; ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (vahana) of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the Devas, Gandharvas, Daityas, Danavas, Nāgas, Vanara and Yakshas. He is the son of the sage Kashyapa and Vinata. He is the younger brother of Aruna, the charioteer of the Sun. Garuda is mentioned in several other texts such as the Puranas and the Vedas.

The simurgh (; ; also spelled senmurv, simorgh, simorg, simurg, simoorg, simorq or simourv) is a benevolent bird in Persian mythology and literature. It bears some similarities with mythological birds from different origins, such as the phoenix ( quqnūs) and the humā (). The figure can be found in all periods of Iranian art and literature and is also evident in the iconography of Georgia, medieval Armenia, the Eastern Roman Empire, and other regions that were within the realm of Persian cultural influence.

demonic birds of Greek mythology, killed by Heracles

sign of the Chinese zodiac

Fenghuang ( ) are mythological birds featuring in traditions throughout the Sinosphere. Fenghuang are understood to reign over all other birds: males and females were originally termed feng and huang respectively, but a gender distinction is typically no longer made, and fenghuang are generally considered a feminine entity to be paired with the traditionally masculine Chinese dragon.

Procne (; ) or Progne is a minor figure in Greek and Roman mythology. Traditionally she is an Athenian princess as the elder daughter of a king of Athens named Pandion. Procne was married to the king of Thrace, Tereus, who lusted after her sister Philomela. Tereus raped Philomela, cut out her tongue, and locked her away. When Procne discovered her sister's rape from a tapestry which Philomela wove and sent to her, she took revenge against her husband by murdering their only child, a boy named Itys, and serving him as food to Tereus. Procne's story serves as an origin myth for the nightingale,

thumb|right|250px|Statue of a kinnara in Wat Phra Kaew|The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, [[Bangkok (Thailand).]] thumb|Kinnara statue of Lý dynasty, Vietnam

magical glowing bird in Slavic folklore

thumb|300px|Clockwise from left: Behemoth (on earth), Ziz (in sky), and [[Leviathan (under sea). From an illuminated manuscript, 13th century AD.]] The Ziz () is a giant griffin-like bird in Jewish mythology, said to be large enough to be able to block out the sun with its wingspan.

Iranian mythological creature

thumb|Sirin lubok print, 18th century Sirin () is a mythological creature of Russian legends, with the head of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird (usually an owl), borrowed from the siren of the Greek mythology. According to myth, the Sirin lived in Iriy or around the Euphrates River.

Sampati (; IAST: '''') is a demigod in Hinduism. He is the elder son of Aruna, and the elder brother of Jatayu. He has the form of either a vulture or an eagle. Sampati lost his wings when he was young. According to the Brahma Purana, Sampati has a swift and well-known son Babhru.

thumb|right|A cockatrice overdoor at Belvedere Castle (1869) in New York's [[Central Park.]]

archetype in myth

thumb|right|Gamayun (representation in a painting by Viktor Vasnetsov). Gamayun () is a prophetic bird of Russian folklore. It is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge and lives on an island in the mythical east, close to paradise. She is said to spread divine messages and prophecies, as she knows everything of all creation, gods, heroes, and man. Like the Sirin and the Alkonost, other creatures likewise deriving ultimately from the Greek myths and siren mythology, the Gamayun is normally depicted as a large bird with a woman's head. In the books of the 17th-19th centuries, Gamayun was described as

thumb|260x260px|Shiva as Sharabha subduing Narasimha, panel view from Munneswaram temple in [[Sri Lanka]]

In Greek mythology, Podarge () is a harpy, a personification of a swift wind and mate of Zephyrus, the West Wind. She is the mother of Balius and Xanthus — two divine horses renowned for their swiftness and who were gifted to Achilles, running as fast as the wind. In the Iliad, she is described by Homer as having taken horse form, and 'grazing in a meadow by the stream of Ocean'.

miraculous birds in mentioned in Surah Al-Fil of the Quran that protected the Kaaba in Mecca from the Aksumite elephant army

Gandabherunda () is a form of Vishnu in Hindu mythology. According to legend, Narasimha, an avatar of Vishnu, assumes this form of a double-headed eagle to subdue Sharabha, a form of Shiva. Gandabherunda is worshipped along with his consort Narasimhi, a fierce form of Lakshmi, also revered as Simhamukhi Lakshmi.

legendary figure of Portuguese folklore

thumb|200px|Heraldic representation thumb|200px|Seal of Bouchard de Marly (1225) with the coat of arms of the lords of Montmorency, or a cross gules, quarterly four alerions azure thumb|100px|three alerions on Lorraine's arms

mythical bird from Liverpool

legendary bird

species of aquatic bird mentioned in ancient Indian texts

right|thumb|343px|An illustration of the Caladrius' prophecies from the 1588 edition of the Physiologus. Copperplate by Pieter van der Borcht (I). The caladrius (or charadrius), according to Christian mythology in the Physiologus, is a snow-white bird that lives in the king's house. It is said to be able to take the sickness into itself and then fly away, dispersing the sickness and healing both itself and the sick person. The caladrius legend formed part of medieval bestiary materials, which typically provided a Christian moralization for the animals they discussed.

Ocypete (Ancient Greek: Ὠκυπέτη means 'swift wing') was one of the three Harpies in Greek mythology. She was also known as Ocypode (Ὠκυπόδη means "swift foot") or Ocythoe (Ὠκυθόη means "swift runner"). The Harpies were the daughters of the sea god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra. Her harpy-sisters were Aello (Podarge) and Celaeno, whereas other mentioned siblings were Iris, and possibly Arke and Hydaspes. In other accounts, Harpies were called the progeny of Typhoeus, father of these monsters, or of Pontus (Sea) and Gaea (Earth) or of Poseidon, god of the sea.

thumb|200px|A martlet as depicted in English heraldry, here with tincture sable A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be constantly on the wing. This condition is an allegory for continuous effort, expressed in heraldic charge depicting a stylised bird similar to a swift or a house martin, without feet. It should be distinguished from the merlette of French heraldry, which is a duck-like bird with a swan-neck and chopped-off beak and legs. The common swift rarely lands ou

thumb|Rarog by Marek Hapon In Slavic mythology, the Raróg () or Raróh () is a fire demon, often depicted as a fiery falcon.

The Piasa ( ) or Piasa Bird is a creature from Native American mythology depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on cliffsides above the Mississippi River. Its original location was at the end of a chain of limestone bluffs in Madison County, Illinois, at present-day Alton, Illinois. The original Piasa illustration no longer exists; a newer 20th-century version, based partly on 19th-century sketches and lithographs, has been placed on a bluff in Alton, Illinois, several hundred yards upstream from its origin. The limestone rock quality is unsuited for holding an image, and th

thumb|A painting depicting a chonchon. The Chonchon ( from ), also known as the Tue-Tué, is a mythical creature found in Mapuche religion, as well as in the folk mythologies of Chile and southern Argentina.

The Elbedritsch - also Elwetrittche, Ilwedritsch; in the plural Elwedritsche(n) - is an imaginary bird-like creature that is reported in southwest Germany (especially in the Palatinate and neighboring regions). The area of distribution is essentially congruent with the historical Palatinate. With emigrants, the belief in the existence of Elbedritsche also spread to Eastern Europe and North America (Pennsylvania) in the 18th century and to South America (Brazil) in the 19th century. The Elbedritsch is to be seen as a local variation on comparable imaginary creatures from other regions (cf. Wolp

right|thumb|250px|Karyōbinga in a depiction of the Amitabha Sutra Kalaviṅka ( kalaviṅka; Pali: karavika; Jiālíngpínqié; , ; ; karawik; , Malay: karawek) is a fantastical immortal creature in Buddhism, with a human head and a bird's torso, with long flowing tail.

Legendary creature

The Sarimanok (Pronunciation: sá·ri·ma·nók), also known as papanok in its feminine form, is a legendary bird of the Maranao people, who originate from Mindanao, an island in the Philippines, and part of Philippine mythology. It comes from the words sari and manok. Sari means "assorted" or "various", while manok originally meant "bird" as evidenced by early Spanish colonial sources, but came to mean only "chicken", which is how it is understood today (i.e. the creature is a "bird/chicken of assorted colors").

thumb|upright 1.1|alt=illustration of a great auk|A great auk, which may be the source for descriptions of the boobrie The boobrie is a mythological shapeshifting entity inhabiting the lochs of the west coast of Scotland. It commonly adopts the appearance of a gigantic water bird resembling a cormorant or great northern diver, but it can also materialise in the form of various other mythological creatures such as a water bull.

mythical creature

second legendary beast of Guarani mythology, second Paraguayan myth

cryptid in Sri Lankan folklore

ancient Meitei folktale

thumb|Coat of arms of the [[Ulfeldt family, featuring a heraldic valravn]] A valravn is a supernatural raven in Danish renaissance folklore. It principally appears in the folk ballad "Valravnen" () where it is depicted as a knight, who was transformed into a raven, and whose curse can only be broken by consuming the blood of a boy.

thumb|Daramulum engraving in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park In Aboriginal cultures of south-east Australia, Daramulum (variations: Darhumulan, Daramulan, Dhurramoolun or Dharramaalan) (“one legged”, from dharra 'leg, thigh' + maal 'one' + -an suffix) is a sky hero associated with Baiame, and an emu-wife. He is a shapeshifter.

Cikavac () is a mythical creature in Serbian mythology, imagined as a winged animal (a bird) with long beak and a pelican-like sack.

mythical creature

Gagana is a miraculous bird with an iron beak and copper claws featured in Russian folklore. She is said to live on the Buyan Island. The bird is often mentioned in incantations. It is also said this bird guards the Alatyr, alongside Garafena the snake.

thumb|Illumination of 13th century manuscript Hercinia is a legendary bird with glowing feathers that inhabited the Hercynian Forest of ancient Germany.

In Irish mythology, Finnguala (modern spellings: Fionnghuala, Fionnuala , or Finola; literally meaning "white shoulder") was the daughter of Lir of the Tuatha Dé Danann. In the legend of the Children of Lir, she was changed into a swan and cursed by her stepmother, Aoife, to wander the lakes and rivers of Ireland, with her brothers Fiachra, Conn and Aodh, for 900 years until saved by the marriage of Lairgren, son of Colman, son of Cobthach, and Deoch, daughter of Finghin, whose union broke the curse. 'The Song of Fionnuala', with lyrics by Thomas Moore speaks of her wanderings.

Persian fairy tale

In Turkic mythology, Konrul, also Kongrul and Konqrul (Azeri: , , ) is a long-lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn, similar to a phoenix.

thumb|A Northern Thai funerary hearse featuring the hatsadiling.

The chickcharney is a type of legendary creature in the folklore of Andros in the Bahamas. They are described as mischievous feathered creatures with red eyes, three toes on each foot, and long prehensile tails. Their heads are said to be able to turn all the way around. They are believed to live in pine forests and will either curse or bless travelers depending on how they are treated. They are described either as large owls or as feathered humanoid creatures that merely resemble owls. They allegedly build nests by tying the tops of pine trees together.

is an abridged version of a Swahili fairy tale titled "Sultan Majnun" (Sultani Majinuni), collected by Edward Steere (1828–1882)

mythical creature

fictitious bird resulting from a hoax