See the Mesmerizing Real-Life Ibong Adarna

Photo credits Jonet Carpio and Miguel David De Leon

We’ve all been familiar with Ibong Adarna when we were in high school and we’ve always been captured by its beauty as seen through books or even paintings about it.

The Ibong Adarna is referred to as a mythical bird in Philippine folklore and is illustrated to have been the most colorful bird that ever existed in the fictional Kingdom of Berbania.

As usually seen and read in books, the mythical bird has bright and colorful feathers and it can be found in a place called Mt. Tabor and its roosting place is ina white tree labeled as Piedras Platas.

The Ibong Adarna in the epic poem is characterized as a bird that whoever hears its lullaby will fall into a deep sleep and those who have been ditched by its poo will turn into a stone.

The photo above shows a real-life Ibong Adarna. They are called as Philippine Trogon with its scientific name Harpactes Ardens and is considered to be one of the most colorful birds that existed in the Philippines.

The mythical and real Ibong Adarna’s behavior is both volatile. It lives and stays in the forest and wards people off. The birds are said to be shy and prefer to stay in the forest’s darkest sections. The Philippine trogons stay motionless for two to 20 minutes when they are roosting and they rotate their heads very slowly to keep an eye on their surroundings and they are sensitive to sounds.

Like the mythical one, the real-life Ibong Adarna will not be able to survive when captivated and may die eventually, its only difference is that it will not sing you the lullaby and it will certainly not turn you into stone.

Photo by Jonet Carpio

Resources:

https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/real-ibong-adarna-photos-a00293-20200507-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20201205-fbnp-long-reads-real-ibong-adarna-photos-a00293-20200507-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR2EiZJ5ZX0C29vAysM3oCF0TYE6P3Q-zs96NgcTX47T_2AKv5bnkNQiJUg