Belled buzzard
A bell-wearing buzzard in folklore, omen of disaster.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
The belled buzzard is a creature from American folklore, often seen as a sign that something bad is coming when its bell rings. Apart from the bell attached to it, the animal looks like a normal buzzard. The story began with real reports of turkey vultures that had cowbells or sleigh bells fastened to them. Many people believed that only one single belled buzzard existed, rather than several different birds. The legend became especially well-known from the 1880s into the early 1900s.
- origin
- American folklore
- first_sightings
- 1850s
- region
- Southern United States
- associated_with
- Omen of disaster
- known_for
- Bell affixed to a buzzard; harbinger of doom
Lore & Background
Claims regarding the belling, capture, or death of the belled buzzard were not uncommon. An early report of a buzzard having been belled out of Missouri was made in 1881. An article from May 5, 1900 purported that three Georgia veterans belled a buzzard in 1863 in Tallahassee, Florida, and a buzzard captured at Ft. Gains, Georgia was speculated to be the same bird. Another article, 'Aged Buzzard Thought Dead,' claimed the belled buzzard had been belled during the War of 1812 and was 'present at every big engagement since then,' and had been sighted as far south as Peru.
Reader's Guide
The belled buzzard holds significance in American folklore as a fearsome critter that evolved from actual sightings of belled turkey vultures into a legendary omen of disaster. Its prominence in the 1880s and turn of the twentieth century, particularly in the Southern United States, reflects how folk beliefs can crystallize around repeated natural phenomena. The creature's association with calamity, such as the yellow fever epidemic of 1878, and its depiction in newspaper headings like 'A Bird of Evil Omen' and 'Disaster Feared with Coming of Belled Buzzard,' cemented its role as a harbinger of doom. The legend also gave rise to the colloquialism 'not enough sense to bell a buzzard.' Despite multiple claimants and varying descriptions, the belief in a single continuous belled buzzard persisted, illustrating the power of folklore to unify disparate events into a single narrative.
Did You Know?
- The belled buzzard originated from actual accounts of turkey vultures being fastened with cow or sleigh bells.
- The creature's first connection to a natural disaster was during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878 in Brownsville, Tennessee.
- An article claimed the belled buzzard had been belled during the War of 1812 and was present at every big engagement since then.
- The belled buzzard is the origin of the colloquialism 'not enough sense to bell a buzzard.'
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