The bird that kings adored

 The mystical caladrius, a forgotten magical bird

    When we think of mystical birds we only think of the phoenix, the griffins, in the North American thunderbirds or in many other famous examples in popular culture since many times in mythologies the pattern of mystical birds with singular power is repeated or they make us immerse ourselves in fantasy, almost always being birds with beautiful plumage or benevolent qualities.

Among them there is one, not very mentioned in the media but which is extremely interesting and has aroused scientific interest, let's delve deeper, thank you for reading, I hope you support, let's start.

The legend of the caladrius and its mystical attributes 

    This is a bird from Roman mythology and which was talked about until post-medieval times, being an occasional part of medieval bestiaries, Although its origin is older, it can be found in Greek mythological paragraphs with the name Dhalion.

It was described as a snow-white bird, similar in proportions to a galliformes or even a gosling, being an apple and graceful bird, with beautiful plumage and beautiful song, Being of country habits.

According to several books on medieval naturalism, these animals were the favorite pet of medieval kings and nobles, inhabiting their houses, palaces and gardens, having a ritual connotation, leaving the ultra-religious amalgams, this animal was an omen of different kinds, bringing both healing and death to its master depending on how it will behave with a sick person, being in a few words the Following:

 "If you look into the face of a sick person, the person will live; if you look away, the person will die."

Among other qualities, it was capable of curing diseases when they were not fatal and the peculiar procedure to do so consisted of approaching the affected person, picking up or catching the disease, moment in which the evil was dispersed through the air and cured both the sick man and Caladrius himself, Other versions of the myth state that the bird approaches the sun so that it burns away the disease and the affected person heals its feces were also said to be healing and helped cure certain diseasesm

As a curiosity, the Caladrius could not be bought or sold and that is why it was raised alongside the kings as a public service. It should not be killed or eaten either, since it was a sacred animal.

The possible reality behind the myth

    Although it is believed to be a representative amalgam, a majority of scientists, historians and archaeologists believe that it was a real bird related to the mystical, of course without such characteristics.

Due to descriptions of it being completely white with no black, it is possible that it was based on the pigeon or some other columbid, or possibly on some type of aquatic bird such as the heron, The art historian Louis Réau believed that it was most likely a white plover; some species of corvid or lark has also been theorized, but this has not been proven.

Another theory, although less precise, is that it is nothing more than a product of an overactive imagination or that it was created exclusively as an analogy, although this is unlikely and the majority chose to believe in the first theory.

In short, the caladrius is one of the few creatures from ancient mythology that has transcended to the current scientific level, earning a place in serious theories, in addition to being little known, it has been represented in medieval art, as in Keith William James' ta crest, (above), may never be resolved, but even so, the possibility of this animal's existence is quite probable.

[Reading links]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caladrius

https://supercurioso.com/caladrius-ave-mitologica-cura/