By Yuriko Garcia Ortiz

Peru is one of the countries with the largest number of endemic bird species, with birdwatching accounting for 25% of tourism (El Peruano Official Daily, 2024), which has a great impact on the local and national development.

At the beginning of the year, the South American Classification Committee (SACC) recognized Peru as a world leader with the greatest diversity of birds on the planet, as we have 1879 species of birds (Ugarte et al. 2023), as reported by the National Service of Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP).

Drawing birds: from Tschudi to Martinez Compañón

The first comprehensive study of Peruvian birds was carried out by the Swiss naturalist Johan Jakob von Tschudi, between 1844 and 1846, with his publication Untersuchungen über die Fauna Peruana, in which about 326 species are discussed (Tschudi, 1844).

In volumes 6 and 7 of Trujillo del Perú (Martínez Compañón, 1985), the diversity of birds typical of the La Libertad region is recorded in watercolors portrayed by various artists focused on emphasizing plumage, claws or landscapes according to their preferences (Macera et al., 1997). 

The northern birdlife in the codices of Martínez de Compañón details the richness of the various species in the territory of the Bishopric of Trujillo in the eighteenth century, which included present-day Ecuador, Chimbote, Tumbes, Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Cajamarca, Amazonas and San Martín (Franke, 1997). Thus, the ornithological diversity is reflected in the illustrations, with birds that come from all regions (coast, sierra and jungle), the coloration of the plumage and the brief descriptions having allowed the identification of some species such as Hesperoburhinus superciliaris (huerequeque), Myiophobus fasciatus (mosquero), Pyrocephalus rubinus (putilla) for the region of La Libertad.

The presence of feathers in the collections of the El Brujo archaeological complex

The funerary trousseaus in Huaca Cao Viejo are richly accompanied by a great variety of ornaments, textiles, vessels, and others, which are tangible testimonies of the beliefs and rituals surrounding death in the Mochica and Lambayeque societies.

Tomb 01 (1998), located on the northeast corner of enclosure 6 of the second edifice of Huaca Cao Viejo (Franco et al. 1999), housed several stylized designs of birds in ceramics. One of them is piece No. EBBCE00000-50, exhibited in room 5 of the Cao Museum. This sculptural bottle represents a seated personage holding with his hands a spoon-billed duck (Alva, 2024).

Aside from that, in the funerary trousseau of the tombs of the mausoleum enclosure of the Lady of Cao, the use of feathers is recurrent for the decoration of the objects. In Room 6 of the Cao Museum, piece No. EBBTX00000-2, that accompanied the tomb of the main Priest is an accessory of feathers arranged in a semicircular shape and held by means of the ringing technique. The feathers are white and orange and form a stripe on the underside of the accessory.

It is a recurring fact that much of the information on birds is recovered thanks to the iconographic record in order to establish comparisons at the regional level. In the Mochica scenes, the birds are represented in their natural state and as characters of power.

Recently, the piece from our collection No. EBBCE00000-36 that participates in the exhibition "Picture-Worlds: Greek, Moche and Maya Painted Pottery" at the Getty Museum in the United States until December 15, 2024, illustrates an anthropomorphic main character, wearing a bird mask and wings, who in turn holds a prisoner by the neck.

Final comments

The fauna expressed in different pieces is a reflection of the beliefs, myths and values of societies over time. Each animal represents something beyond its physical form, and its presence allows us to explore the relationship between humans and nature. In this way, birds are important in the archaeological record as they offer data on the human diet (consumption), biodiversity, environmental health (biological control and regeneration of vegetation), among others.

References 

Alva, J. (2024). The ceramics of El Brujo: The Cupisnique and Mochica epochs, Catalogue of the collection. Augusto N. Wiese Foundation.  

El Peruano Official Daily. (January 05, 2024). Peru, world leader with the greatest diversity of birds. El Peruano Official Daily. https://www.elperuano.pe/noticia/232761-peru-lider-mundial-con-la-mayor-diversidad-de-aves 

Franco, Régulo G., César Gálvez, & Segundo Vásquez, eds. (1999). Tombs of the Moche Chamber on the Upper Platform of Huaca Cao Viejo, El Brujo Complex. Lima: Fundación Augusto N. Wiese.  

Franke, I. (1997) Chapter Three. Northern birdlife in the watercolors of Martínez Compañón. In Macera, P., Jiménez, A. and Franke, I. (Eds.), Trujillo del Perú: Baltazar Jaime Martínez Compañón - Watercolors, XVIII centuries. (pp. 99-121). EDUBANCO.

Macera, P., Jiménez, A. & Franke, I. (1997). Trujillo del Perú: Baltazar Jaime Martínez Compañón - Watercolors, eighteenth century. Lima: Banco Continental Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture. EDUBANCO. http://www.biblioteca.fundacionbbva.pe/libros/libro_000049.pdf

Martínez Compañón, B. J. (2015 [1985]). Trujillo del Perú: volume 7. Alicante: Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library.

Tschudi, J. (1844). Untersuchungen über die Fauna Peruana auf einer Reise in Peru während der Jahre 1838-1842.- St. Gallen: Scheitlin und Zollikofer.- 5 Bd.

Ugarte, M., Angulo, F., & Gutiérrez, R. (2023). Update of the official list of birds of Peru. UNOP Bulletin, 18(1), 8-16.