The African Fish Eagle Haliaeetus vocifer is another significant bird that featured in the legends of the Rozvi and this species is almost certainly depicted in another of the soapstone carvings discovered at the Great Zimbabwe.
As eagles (and some other raptors) are believed to be host to important spirits, these ‘bird stones’ have been interpreted as a metaphor for the mediating role of royal ancestors, mostly in the procurement of rain, but also in other matters. Indeed, the spirit of the last Rozvi Mambo (chief) was believed to have taken on the form of a Black Eagle Aquila verreauxii that now haunts and protects the Manyanga Ruins.
While historically the distinctive piercing call of the Fish Eagle ‘Shiri chena, shiri ye Mwari’ was said to pronounce the deity, an interesting Zezuru belief I came across is that bad luck will befall anyone who observes one of these birds catching a fish.
The Zulu forebears of the Ndebele greatly respected Fish Eagles, and associated them with orderliness and discipline, also naming certain valuable black cattle with white forequarters after them.
Another raptor, the Yellow-billed Kite Milvus migrans parasitus is widely regarded as a bearer of good tidings. This particularly agile intra-African migrant arrives in southern Africa just prior to the summer rainfall, and is often found near human habitation, where it may take small chickens or scraps. The latter habit has apparently led many to believe that this species fills the familiar role of the ‘tooth fairy’. Thus young children often leave their shed teeth on the roof of a hut for them to collect in exchange for good luck.
Local names for the Fish Eagle in Zimbabwe:
Hungwe, Gondo – Shona (all dialects)
iWungkwe, iNkwazi – Ndebele/Nambya
Gwalira – Sotho/Venda
N’hwati – Shangaan
Chungwe – baTonga
Local Names for the Black Eagle (Verreaux’s Eagle) in Zimbabwe:
Rovambira, Batambira, Nyamamudzura – Shona (all dialects)
uKhozi wembila – Ndebele
Gama – Shangaan
Local Names for the Yellow-billed Kite in Zimbabwe:
Njerere, Gondo – Shona (all dialects)
umZwazwa, isiKlanu – Ndebele
Mnankgodi – Sotho/Venda
Mangatlu, Gama – Shangaan
Information for this section was obtained from contributors as well as the following references.
References:
Huffman, TN. (1981). Snakes and Birds: Expressive space at Great Zimbabwe. Inaugural lecture: University of Witwatersrand, Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Huffman, TN. (1985). The Soapstone Birds from Great Zimbabwe. African Arts 18 (3): 68-100.
For more information on the species covered here visit:
https://ebird.org/species/affeag1/L919932
http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22695115
https://ebird.org/species/vereag1
http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22696067
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