The Lightning Bird
In southern African folklore, a black-and-white bird summons thunder with its wings and lightning with its claws.
What was reported
The impundulu, or lightning bird, appears in the folklore of the Xhosa, Zulu and Mpondo peoples. It's described as a large black-and-white bird, sometimes able to take human form, that makes thunder by beating its wings and lightning with its talons.
Where lightning strikes, the bird is said to have laid an egg in the ground, and traditional healers were called to dig it out.
Explanations offered
The legend is closely tied to the region's fierce summer thunderstorms, which strike the high ground of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal often. Some suggest real birds such as the hamerkop helped inspire it.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- Pondoland, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Witnesses
- Xhosa, Zulu and Mpondo tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.