Goofus bird explained

The Goofus bird is a mythical, backwards-flying bird, originating in lumberjack folklore^[1] in North America.^[2] It is also known variously as the Filla-ma-loo bird or the Flu-fly bird.^[3]

The Goofus Bird flies backwards, as it does not care where it's going, only where it's been, and it builds its nest upside down.^{[4] [5]} It is described as having a conspicuous appearance, with a turkey-like head, long green neck, with silver scales, a black right wing and a pink left wing.^[6]

A person likened to a Goofus Bird is a person low in intellectual curiosity and indifferent to their forward direction.^[7] Goofus is a possible origin of the word doofus, slang for a person prone to foolishness or stupidity, perhaps influenced by the German word doof, meaning stupid.^[8]

The Goofus bird is one of many fearsome critters of lumberjack folklore, fantastical beasts that were said to inhabit the frontier wilderness of North America, and is an example of a 'tall tale',^[9] a story with unbelievable elements related as if it were factual.

See also

• Collibr birds that sometimes fly backwards.

Further reading

• Book: Tryon . Henry . "Filla-ma-loo (Goofus) Bird," Fearsome Critters . 1939 . Idlewild Press.
• Book: Leeming . David . Page . Jake . Myths, Legends, and Folktales of America: An Anthology . 1999 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-972895-4 . registration . goofus bird. .
• Book: Stoutenburg, Adrien . American Tall-tale Animals . 1968 . New York . Viking Press . 440269.

Notes and References

1. News: Miller . Allison . 2008 . Friends, kilts and running . Herald-Sun [Durham, NC].
2. News: Burchard . H. . 1991 . The creatures from Toledo . The Washington Post . 47.
3. Travis . P. . 1944 . BIRD LORE OF NEW YORK STATE . New York Folklore Quarterly . 1 . 197.
4. Web site: The Goofus Flies Backward and Builds Its Nest Upside Down . archive.nytimes.com . 2018-05-17.
5. Book: Borges, Jorge Luis . The Book of Imaginary Beings . Translated by Andrew Hurley; Contributor: Margarita Guerrero . 83 . 2005 . Vintage . 9780670891801 .
6. Book: Tryon, Henry H. . Fearsome Critters . Idlewild Press . 1939 . Cornwall, NY .
7. Travis . P. . 1945 . BIRD LORE OF NEW YORK STATE . New York Folklore Quarterly . 1 . 197.
8. Book: Stone the crows : Oxford dictionary of modern slang . 2008 . Oxford University Press . Ayto . John . Simpson . J.A. . 9780199543700 . 2nd . Oxford . 191929554 . registration .
9. Book: Sutherland, Zena . The Best in Children's Books: The University of Chicago Guide to Children's Literature, 1973-78 . 1980 . University of Chicago Press . 9780226780597 . 397.