Talk:Brolga

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Former featured article Brolga is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.
Main Page trophy This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on February 20, 2005.

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[edit] older entries

ŽI am sorry but what is brolga? I mean is she (or he?) a real human, fictional character, even a some kind of species? -- Taku 18:31 May 2, 2003 (UTC)

Both, of course. Why else would there be a taxobox? The Brolga is very beautiful and quite common bird in the crane family, and the focus of a a beautiful part of the dreamtime. Now I imagine that you will feel tempted to leap up on your high-horse and say that we ought to strictly seperate biology and mythology into seperate entries. That, however, would be to miss the point entirely: the Aboriginal people have been living with the land and the creatures that belong to it for over 50 thousand years—since long before the ice cap retreated from Europe and my ancestors walked up there to find a cave or two to occupy—and to them, the reality of the dreamtime and the connection of modern-day fauna to it is absolute. Tannin

PS: that's why the entry starts off with the words "in the dreamtime", because if you understand the dreamtime, then all is clear, and if you don't understand the dreamtime, then you have no hope of understanding anything anout Australia. It's a very simple concept, but quite fundamental. -- T

Okay now I understand what makes me confused. I agree that we have one article for both biological and mythological meaning. But shouldn't it a good idea to explain what is Brolga briefly in the introduction. Actually I will. See and give me comments. -- Taku 01:39 May 3, 2003 (UTC)
Taku, brolga is the same sort of thing as badger, the clever animal that also carries a sake bottle and an account book to record his drinks. Ancheta Wis 02:24, 18 Jul 2004 (UTC)

The intro still doesn't blend into the rest as neatly as I would like (OK, we are supposed to be a soulless and boring encyclopeda, but it is too beautiful a story to butcher too much) however, I am reluctantly drawn to conclude that you are right, Taku. (An Australian would not need the into para, but that's the point, isn't it: we are not all Australians here.) I've trimmed it back and think it reads better now. See what you think. Tannin

I've put the myth story in a sub-category at the bottom of the article. Most people visiting the page are more likley to be bird-watchers than anthropologists, and I don't think every Yank will quite get dreamtime without following the wikilink.--ZZ 07:41, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)


Ovid's Metamorphoses contains many similar stories about the origins of birds, animals and plants. Perhaps they could be added to the relevant articles too. -- Derek Ross

That would be nice, Derek. The key, I think, is to do it very sparingly. Only when it really adds something of value, and is quite specific to the particular creature. Tannin

Nice tale. But shouldn't Brolga the mythical girl be at Brolga (myth)? (See Jupiter) --Menchi 23:00 25 Jul 2003 (UTC)

The part where it says they use swan nests had a link to the black swan. If that is the only kind of swan we are talking about, we should say "black swan" instead of just swan. Cos111 23:35 25 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Swans in Australia are black. AFAIK swans in Australia are not naturally white. So saying swan here means black swan because that's the only kind of swan we have here.

[edit] Primarily resolvedCurrently failing to meet featured article criteria

Hi, this article would not longer make it if nominated as a featured article candidate. Out of the Featured article criteria, it does not have a Lead section and it has no references. Can someone familiar with this topic please remedy some of those concerns? I really prefer not to nominate an article to be removed as a featured article, but I also feel all featured articles should meet the same standards. Thanks - Taxman 22:52, Oct 26, 2004 (UTC)

I noticed this and am trying to find some way of rectifying it, but don't know if I have time--ZayZayEM 01:48, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Well, see what you can do. Some is better than none. - Taxman 02:44, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)
Nice work, thank you. I just noticed the lead section and the references. Even though you said you didn't add much material with the references, if they confirmed the material that was already here, then they make great references. If you could find a couple more, all the better. Especially something on the aboriginal legend part. - Taxman 15:51, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Lacking information to be a featured article?

What do they eat? Do they have natural predators? What's the estimated population size, and is it increasing/decreasing? Do they migrate? How fast do they run/fly? --Confuzion 15:03, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I have requested that this article be removed of it's featured article status. Please vote here. --Oldak Quill 19:18, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
I have addressed a number of these after a very simple Google search. Rmhermen 03:32, Mar 6, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] what evil spirit?

"Brolga had escaped from the evil spirit" what spirit would this be? four-headed brolga http://purpletentacle.co.uk/images/brolga.jpg

Read the whole section. An evil willy-willy (small whirlwind) spirit stole Brolga from her peoples.--ZayZayEM 02:04, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Indigenous Australian mythology

I've removed the following from the article. Not all Aboriginal tribes believe the same things and tell the same stories. It can be added back if someone can specify which tribe(s) this particular tale comes from. --Ptcamn 10:51, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

In the Aboriginal Dreamtime, Brolga was a young woman of extraordinary beauty, and a wonderful dancer. She learned the old dances—parading like an emu and whirling like the wind—and invented new ones to tell the stories of the spirits and the animals. People of far-away tribes came just to see her dancing, and the more she danced the more famous she became. Sometimes the old people would worry that, because she was so pretty and so famous, she might grow vain; but she never did. She remained the same happy, modest Brolga she had always been.

One day, Brolga went alone out onto the plain to dance, just for the joy of it, when an evil spirit spied her. The evil spirit felt he must possess her. He came in the form of a willywilly and spun her away. Her people became worried and searched for her, but the wind had blown away her footprints. They searched for many days before they found the willywilly on a distant plain, and Brolga there beside him. They all ran to rescue her, waving their spears and boomerangs, but the evil spirit spun the whirlwind faster and faster. If he could not have Brolga, he said, no-one would have her. He swirled around her and just as the tribe came close, she vanished into the sky.

Soon after all these events, a bird appeared, one that they had never seen before; a beautiful tall, grey bird. Slowly, it stretched its wings and began to dance, making long hopping steps and floating on the air with the same grace and poetry of motion that Brolga had been famous for. Soon the people realised that Brolga had escaped from the evil spirit and been turned into a bird so that she could fly back to Earth and dance for them again.