The king of birds
Environmental Education: The Listed Wren in Popular Culture.
The king of birds shows us a brief history that we can find in the book "Iberian birds in popular culture".
Environmental education has a strong connection with popular culture, and that's what we want to show in this series of blog posts from Explora Natura.
As you know, one of the members of Explora Natura, Antonio Pestana, is the author of the book "Iberian Birds in Popular Culture", a fantastic compilation of sayings, proverbs, stories, legends and anecdotes that was published by the Tundra publishing house and will soon be complemented with a second part that the author has made significant progress in.
So we continue this series of reports on environmental education with the popular tale of "The King of the Birds", referring to the firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla), one of the smallest birds in our avifauna.
Here's the story:
One day the birds gathered to choose their king, and by common agreement they decided that the one who flew the highest would be chosen. All the birds strained and climbed higher and higher until they were exhausted.
"I am strong, noble, and brave. And my formidable wings allow me to fly very high, above the clouds!" each bird thought to itself.
The nightingale believed that he must be the king of the birds, for he possessed the most beautiful and melodious song of all the birds.
The owl, who is very wise and meditates at night instead of sleeping, said:
- If I were king, I would watch over my subjects. And my subjects would sleep peacefully.
The crane, which wears a splendid crown on its head and possesses a powerful flight, knew that its majestic bearing could lead it to occupy the position of royalty.
The eagle, imposing, the one that defies the sun and knows itself to be powerful, flew high and higher, sure of being the winner of the great challenge.
However, the eagle did not know that the goldcrest had climbed upon it, a small bird with a crown on its head, which, judging by its appearance, although very small, seems destined to shine in the royal office, with its yellow colors and its crowned head.
All the birds grew tired and the eagle, believing itself to be the winner, descended when it saw no other birds in the air.
What no one expected was that when the eagle descended, the wren remained suspended in the air, as high as possible, and won this great challenge, being proclaimed king of the birds.
In this way, with his audacity, the wren managed to be proclaimed king of the birds and took his place with a great feast celebrated by all the birds!
We hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned to the blog! environmental education from Explora Natura!
