Kunwinjku people of western Arnhem Land have many onomatopoeic bird names,
for example Djigirridjdjigirridj, for Willie Wagtail. Other names relate to
colour, eg Dalgerowgen, for Crimson Finch. However, my relatives do not
appear to have such wonderfully descriptive names for birds of prey as the
Western Desert peoples.
Denise L Goodfellow
on 30/8/10 9:30 PM, Christopher Watson at
wrote:
> Just some trivia on the Black-breasted Buzzard, but the behaviour being
> discussed here, while recently noted by folks at zoos and desert parks has
> been known by our Western Desert citizens for donkey's years - the name for
> the Black-breasted Buzzard in the Western Desert language
> (Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara) is *kalaya-kata-pungku*. Literally
> translated this means "will/may strike an emu in the head", which I would
> venture derives from observation of such habits.
>
> All of the birds of prey have distinct names and they usually have some
> relationship to an aspect of their behaviour or fall into the well
> established Western Desert habit of naming birds using onomatopoeia derived
> from their call. So the Wedge-tailed Eagle is* walawuru* - from a
> conjunction of the words *wala* (swift, or in a hurry) and *wurumpu* (a
> specially designed fighting spear designed for ceremonial punishment wounds
> which has a flat diamond-shaped head with a remarkable resemblance to the
> tail of the eagle).
>
> Regards,
> Chris Watson
> Alice Springs
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