Fact Check: Does video show ‘divine bird Jatayu’ in Kerala? Here’s the truth

The claim, however, is false.

A video of a bird is being shared on Twitter with the claim that it is a ‘divine bird Jatayu’. It also says that the bird was spotted at Chadayamangalam, Kollam district in south Kerala. The claim, however, is false.

The video is being shared with false claim. (Screengrab)

“JATAYU, a Divine Bird of #Ramayana is very rarely seen. Recently the bird was sighted at Sadayamangalam forest in #Kerala where is a Jatayu Park. See this majestic Bird & its beautiful wingspan,” wrote a Twitter user and shared the video just a few hours back.

Reverse image search of the keyframes of the video unveiled several links shared back in 2014. One of them is a YouTube link with the same video which says that the bird is an Andean condor.

Further, an article published on the Dodo identified the bird seen in the video as an Andean condor. This particular bird, named Sayani, was poisoned in 2012, in Catamarca, Argentina and was close to death. It was rescued and sent to Buenos Aires Zoo for treatment. After staying in the facility for about 16 months, it fully recovered. The video in question shows Sayani being set free by the authorities after her recovery.

Jatayu is a mythical bird mentioned in the epic Ramayana. As the story goes, Jatayu witnessed Sita being kidnapped by the demon king Ravana and tried to stop the abduction. The bird spread its wings and stood in front of Ravana to stop him. The demon king, however, chopped off a wing of the bird.

Hence, the claim that the video shows a Jatayu bird is false.