The word pariah has extended in meaning, came into English from Tamil paraiyar, the plural of paraiyan, the caste name, which literally means "(hereditary) drummer" and comes from the word parai, the name of a drum used at certain festivals. The caste system of India placed pariahs, very low in society. The pariah dog is often used as a generic term for any domestic dog that is a stray or lives in feral condition, without any geographical restriction.Īccording to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 'the word pariah can be used for anyone who is a social outcast', independent of social position, recalls a much more rigid social system, which made only certain people pariahs. These birds are held sacred by the Hindus.Similarly, the brahminy myna ( Sturnus pagodarum), a gorgeous bird, which is grey above and reddish fawn below with glossy black crown and long recumbent crest is called ' Papathi nahanavai' in Tamil? Papathi meaning woman belong to 'Brahmin' caste and 'nahanavai' meaning 'fragrance mouth'.Īlthough the origin of the domestic dog from wolf has been established, details about where and when the domestication occurred, is not clearly known. The local name for the brahminy kite in the south Indian language, Tamil is ' Krishna parundu'. This bird derives its name from the 'Brahmin'. The distinguished looking brahminy kite has bright rusty red color above with white head, neck and breast to abdomen. These large dark brown birds with forked tail when in flight are excellent acrobatic flyers.They feed on a variety of food items that include insects, spiders, worms, mice, lizards, frogs, and small birds and also leftovers from kitchen. The pariah kite derives its name from the untouchable lower caste 'pariah'. One is the common pariah kite ( Milvus migrans) and the other is the brahminy kite ( Haliastur indus)-these birds of prey can be commonly seen in villages, towns and cities across India. Two of India's fascinating birds carry caste names. But what many do not know is the fact that some animals do carry caste discriminating names. Some animals such as the Hanuman langur, cobra and elephant are sacred themselves since they are revered as Hanuman, the monkey god, Naga, the snake god, and Ganesha, the elephant god. Not being allowed to travel is hard for everyone, but having such a diverse and varied bird population both resident and migratory makes life in Broome so much better than it could be.Hindu religion generally considers life forms as sacred and it has developed sanctity by association, such as the swan, eagle and bull that serve as vehicles for the major deities such as the Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, respectively. We are very lucky here in Broome that 333 bird species have now been recorded in the area. Raptors are well represented in Broome with Black-breasted Buzzards, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Nankeen Kestrels, Brown Falcons, Australian Hobby, Spotted Harriers and Swamp Harriers all observed regularly around the area. Black-shouldered Kites can be observed less frequently and are more common in our winter months most years.
The other kites that are regularly observed around Broome are the Black Kite and Whistling Kite. One more bird species with serious talons in the north of Australia! This sandstone cliff was only a few hundred metres from where we encountered the juvenile Wedge-tailed Eagle too. Both bird species fish in the same locations around Broome, though. Brahminy Kites can often be seen perched on our street lights around Broome as they feast on recently caught fish too!Īs you can see above the Brahminy Kite does have some serious talons for catching fish! Our local Ospreys also have serious talons, but not the colourful plumage of the Brahminy Kite. There are a few rapidly eroding sandstone cliffs in that area and it perched on top for some time. On our recent trip to check on the breeding success of the Pied Oystercatchers at the Northern end of Cable Beach a Brahminy Kite was quite obliging and posed for us. Dampier Creek and Cable Beach are both around 2 1/2 kilometres from the nest site, so it is perfectly positioned in that respect. The distance to the coast for the pair of Brahminy Kites to collect fresh fish is not far. I was lucky enough to observe the birds carrying nesting material over a period of time into the tree in somebody’s garden, because you would have no idea the nest was there otherwise. We currently have a pair of Brahminy Kite nesting at the top of a dense tree in our local neighbourhood, but the tree is too tall and dense to take photographs. The Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus is an unmistakeable medium-sized raptor that we observe very regularly around Broome.
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