Herons

Burung Bandau (The Herons)
A painting by Ida Bagus Wiri

Herons and egrets figure prominently in Balinese folklore. At the village of Petulu, just North of Ubud, huge egret flocks return each evening to roost after feeding on the surrounding rice fields during the day. First appearing in Petulu in 1966, the birds are sacred and believed to be the souls of the 100,000 people killed in the anti-communist uprising earlier in the year.