The Philippine fairy-bluebird (''Irena cyanogastra'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Irenidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

being found in the islands of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

and

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 m ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...

and tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

. They are seen in mixed flocks along with

Philippine bulbul The Philippine bulbul (''Hypsipetes philippinus'') is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mo ...

Blue-headed fantail The blue-headed fantail (''Rhipidura cyaniceps'') is a fantail endemic to the northern Philippines where it is found on the islands of Luzon and Catanduanes. Until recently, it was considered conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency o ...

s and other forest birds. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting for both food and pet trade.

Mythology

This species is considered as sacred to the

Tagalog people The Tagalog people ( tl, Mga Tagalog; Baybayin: ᜋᜅ ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔) are the largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, numbering at around 30 million. An Austronesian people, the Tagalog have a well developed society due to their ...

as this is perceived as

tigmamanukan In Philippine mythology, the Tigmamanukan was believed by the Tagalog people to be an omen or augural bird. Although the behaviors of numerous birds and lizards were said to be omens, particular attention was paid to the tigmamanukan. Before C ...

omen, and therefore, the sacred omen and messenger of

Bathala In the indigenous religion of the ancient Tagalogs, Bathala Maykapal was the transcendent Supreme Being, the originator and ruler of the universe. He is commonly known and referred to in the modern era as Bathala, a term or title which, in ea ...

, the supreme god in indigenous Tagalog religious practices. In old Tagalog mythology in southern

(Philippines), the Philippine fairy-bluebirds were known as the tigmamanukan omen birds. All of which were the omen birds of Bathala, the supreme god of the Tagalog people prior to the arrival of the Spanish. According to legend, Bathala ordered a tigmamanukan bird to crack in one peck the bamboo which let out the first man, Malakas, and first woman, Maganda. In another legend, Bathala also sends the tigmamanukan bird (sometimes the tigmamanukan snake or lizard as there are three tigmamanukan forms) to aid mankind if they need to proceed or halt a journey. If a traveler sees a tigmamanukan omen, and it passes from right to left, then it symbolizes as labay (Bathala's approval to proceed with the journey). If the tigmamanukan omen passes from left to right, the traveller should not proceed, or else he or she will never return. All tigmamanukan omen birds are said to live in the mythical Mount Batala (a sacred mountain of Bathala).https://pinoy-culture.com/the-tigmamanukan-mythology-from-the-philippines/

References

External links

Image at ADW

Philippine fairy-bluebird The Philippine fairy-bluebird (''Irena cyanogastra'') is a species of bird in the family Irenidae. It is endemic to the Philippines being found in the islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Samar and Bohol. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowlan ...

Endemic birds of the Philippines

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{passeri-stub

Mythology

See also

References

External links