Wooden Wings – Heiðlóa

5. Heiðlóa /Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)

Hún er vorboði Íslands og þegar Íslendingar sjá fyrstu lóuna á vorin fagna þeir, því hún boðar endalok vetrarins. Hún verpir 4 eggjum og flýgur síðan til Írlands og Bretlands. Karlfuglinn er skærari á sumrin, með glansandi gylltar fjaðrir. Íslendingar elska lóuna og hafa samið ljóð og lög um hana. Koma hennar er eins og náttúrulegt dagatal sem segir: „já, sumarið er komið!“

When Icelanders see their first golden plover in spring, they cheer because winter is ending! It lays 4 eggs and later migrates to Ireland and Britain. The male is brighter than the female in summer, with shiny golden feathers. Icelanders love this bird, and people wrote poems and songs about this bird because its arrival was like a natural calendar saying “yay, summer is coming!”

Wooden Wings trail: 1. Tjaldur – Eurasian oystercatcher; 2. Fýll – Northern fulmar; 3. Kría – Arctic tern; 4. Óðinshani – Red phalarope; 5. Heiðlóa – European golden plover; 6. Rjúpa – Rock ptarmigan; 7. Lómur – Red-throated diver; 8. Álft – Whooper swan; 9. Sendlingur – Purple sandpiper; 10. Æðafugl – Common eider; 11. Fálki – Gyrfalcon: 12. Himbrimi – Great northern diver.

Meira um/More about Wooden Wings project.