Known as the “screaming woman bird,” “murder bird,” and “baby-cry bird,” the bush stone-curlew is as creepy as they come. She lurks motionless in the day, then stalks the night with eyes that don’t blink and a call that sounds like a baby wailing. In Larrakia Dreaming stories, and across other First Nations cultures, her haunting cry is said to be a mother searching for her lost child—a sorrow carried on the night air. Equal parts nightmare fuel and local icon, the curlew doesn’t care if she freaks you out. She sings anyway... and she sings like nobody is sleeping.
