The Whistling Schoolboy
At dawn in the forests of the Western Ghats, travellers hear what sounds like a boy whistling a tune, but no one is there.
What was reported
In the hill forests of the Western Ghats, from Maharashtra to Kerala, people walking along streams at dawn and dusk often hear a loud, rambling, very human whistle, rising and falling as if a boy were idly whistling a song. Many have searched for the whistler and found nobody.
Local people and early naturalists gave the sound's owner the nickname 'the whistling schoolboy'.
Explanations offered
It is the Malabar whistling thrush, a dark blue bird found only in the Western Ghats, which lives along forest streams and sings its human-like whistle especially in the early morning. It is shy and blends into the shadows, so it is much easier to hear than to see.
- When
- Heard every morning
- Where
- Western Ghats, near Agumbe, Karnataka, India
- Witnesses
- Hikers and villagers
- Status
- Explained
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.