Folk name and lore of birds from the Sundanese of West Java, Indonesia: An ethno-ornithological survey

Abstract

Abstract. Mulyanto D, Iskandar J, Madani A, Gunawan R, Partasasmita R. 2020. Folk name and lore of birds from the Sundanese of West Java, Indonesia: An ethno-ornithological survey. Biodiversitas 21: 4384-4395. Since last time, research on birds in West Java had been undertaken by ornithologists. The ethnoornithology research, however, has been rarely employed. The study aims were to account for vernacular or folk names, folk classification, and folkloric birds based on case of the mountain people of Keratasari, West Java, Indonesia. The method in this study was qualitative with the ethnoornithological approach. The field data were collected by focus group discussion and deep interviews with informants of 12 groups of independent village people of four villages of Kertasari sub-district. The naming of collected data was by systematic elicitation of names from pictorial representations of birds and organized here to facilitate analysis of various aspects of folk taxonomy about the scientific one. Folklore about birds that were collected in natural contexts is also included to indicate the birds' role and their names in symbolic processes that exceed the limits of literal reference. The result of the study showed that it was recorded 222 bird species, representing 170 vernacular names, 93 of them were recorded by Koningsberger (1901-1909). The taxonomic and folkloric mode of knowledge in this paper presents that birds play important roles in villagers' lives of Sundanese people, particularly in the study area. Generally, birds have been an important role in socio-cultural aspects, including in folklore of Sundanese people who reside in rural mountain areas of West Java.

Local knowledge on bird species and socio-economic cultural and ecology functions of birds and their various disturbances in the rural ecosystem of the Cisokan watershed, West Java

“…According to local beliefs, the sound of puyuh bébéncé at night is believed to be a sign of the arrival of thieves in the village. The population's beliefs, in general, are the same as the results of studies elsewhere in rural West Java (Iskandar 2018;Partasasmita et al 2016;Mulyanto et al 2020;Iskandar 2021, 2022).…”

Bird population and bird hunting in the rural ecosystem of Cijambu, Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia

“…Bird species in nature have several ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural functions (Boesing et al 2017;Iskandar et al 2019Iskandar et al , 2021Mulyanto et al 2020;Nurrofik et al 2021;Hendrayana et al 2022;Withaningsih et al 2022). The ecological functions of birds, for example, are to assist in pollinating various plants, seed dispersal, control agricultural pests, and bioindicators to access environmental changes, including pesticide pollution and damage to forest vegetation.…”

“…The ecological functions of birds, for example, are to assist in pollinating various plants, seed dispersal, control agricultural pests, and bioindicators to access environmental changes, including pesticide pollution and damage to forest vegetation. In comparison, the socioeconomic and cultural functions are a source of animal protein for meat consumption, as pets in cages or cages, trading live bird species in bird markets, folk stories, and sources of inspiration for songs and myths of society (Iskandar et al 2019;Mulyanto et al 2020).…”

Descriptiveness of Common Bird Names in the Malay Language

“…This aspect of descriptiveness can be assessed by examining the degree of connection between the literal meaning and the actual meaning contained within a common bird name (Gilreath, 1993). The connection between these two meanings can indicate the correlation between the meanings present in the linguistic elements of a common bird name and the actual characteristics possessed by a group or species of bird (Mulyanto et al, 2020). Information about the descriptiveness of common bird names is essential to create and selecting high-quality common bird names.…”