How the Birds got Their Colours - by Mary Albert

12 Feb 2017 · 3 min

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This content was created by Dave Edgren. This content was uploaded by Dave Edgren. This is a YouTube video titled "How the Birds got Their Colours - by Mary Albert" (uploaded 2017-02-12) containing a spoken-word reading/narration by Dave Edgren of a Dreamtime/folktale retold by Mary Albert that explains how birds acquired their colours. The excerpt is a single-speaker storytelling excerpt (narration).

Chapters

Hi, my name is Dave Edgren, and I'd like to read you How the Birds Got Their Colours, told by Mary Albert. This is the story of how the birds got their colours. Long, long ago in the Dreamtime, When the land and animals were being made, all the birds were black, all one color, till— One day a little dove flew around looking for food. He flew down to the ground to catch a big juicy grub. But instead he landed right on a sharp stick. It pierced his little foot and made him very sick. For days he lay on the ground in pain. His foot swelled up. He was dying. All his mates gathered around to see how they could help. All except Crow. He just wandered around with his hands behind his back. Suddenly the Parrot rushed forward and with her sharp beak burst the little Dove's swollen foot. Color splashed out all over the parrot. Red and green and blue ran down her chest, wings, and tail. It splashed out all over the other birds. Some got red, some got brown, some got blue, some got yellow. Some got spots. Some got stripes. All got colors. All except Crow, who was standing away from the others. Crow got no color at all. So that's how the birds got their colors.