MacQueen's Bustard
Chlamydotis macqueenii
Status: Vulnerable. Nearly hunted to extinction for sport, and because of habitat degradation. Population decline.
In Slavic folklore, the Firebird is a magical creature from enchanted lands. It glows with beautiful and rich plumage of golden light, and even when a feather has fallen from the bird, it still burns with that fiery light. In the stories, they are harbingers of journey and change. The Firebird features often in Russian fairytales as the coveted object of a quest. The hero is sent out at the bidding of the king to hunt across the lands in search of the mythical bird. As proof of his success, he must bring back a glowing tail feather, imbued with magical promise and is wedded to the princess.
In one tale, a tsar had three sons. In his orchard grew an apple tree, from whose branches someone stole an apple each night. Each of the brothers from eldest to youngest, sat vigil on consecutive nights to try and catch the thief, but it was only the youngest, Ivan, who managed to stay awake and thus saw the firebird alight upon the tree and steal an apple. He reached up an plucked a bright tail feather before the bird flew off. With this luminous proof to show his father, the three sons were then sent on a journey to seek out and bring back the firebird for their father, with the price for success being the kingdom.
In a journey that led him to Baba Yaga's chicken-legged doorstep, across a fiery river, across mountains on his trusty stallion, betrayal by his two other brothers, and finally coming home with the firebird to claim the domain from his father.
References:
Kushnir, D. (2015). Slavic Tales & Myths: Part 2. (n.p.): CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.