#alicanto

[cryptid-quest]

Cryptid of the Day: Alicanto

Description: Reported throughout countless mines in Chile is the luminescent bird called the Alicanto. They feed on silver and gold, and seeing one brings good luck. However, they can be sinister, by pushing miners off cliffs. 

[connor-c-art]

A digital painting of the mythical Alicanto bird! ✨⚜️ This beautiful creature is said to live in caves and mines in South America, specifically Chile. It is said to be luminescent, with feathers that shine with a metallic colour at night - attributed to a diet of metals which change the colour of its plumage. Spotting an Alicanto without it seeing you is meant to bring good luck, but if it spots a person the Alicanto has an alleged tendency to barge humans off of cliffs!

[mecthology]

The Alicanto from Chilean folklore.

Alicantos are commonly portrayed as large birds, although their size and shape often differ based on the specific sighting or story being told. Due to the weight of the ore it consumes, Alicanto is unable to fly and instead runs on the ground. Interestingly, it moves faster when it hasn't eaten recently.

They nest near hills that contain the precious stones that they eat. Spotting an Alicanto is said to bring good luck. If a miner can find and follow an Alicanto for a while without being caught, the miner will find silver and/or gold. However, if Alicanto discovers them, it will push the person off of a cliff or lure them into a deep ravine where they fall to their death. Although, it's also said that Alicanto will help humans that they favor to find gold and silver, as long as the human shares what they find with the bird.

Follow @mecthology for more legends and lores.

Source: Wikipedia & cryptidwiki

[briefbestiary]

A bird with a bright, metallic sheen. They're a rare sight said to bring fortune if you can manage to not get caught while trailing behind them.

[dailymythicalknowledge]

Jackson's Daily Bestiary #10: Alicanto

Image credit: https://twitter.com/vamtaro/status/1214454866778607616

Region of origin: Chile

The Alicanto is a legendary bird from Chilean mythology who lives in the Atacama desert. It is said that at night, its wings shine brightly with beautiful metallic colors and its eyes glow radiantly and colorfully. It feeds on ores, and the ores it eats affect the colors of its glow, so for example, if the Alicanto eats a lot of gold, it will gain a golden coloring, or if it eats a lot of silver, it will have the color of silver, and so on, although its wings are also often described to be copper green.

While the Alicanto can fly, it prefers not to, choosing instead to simply walk on the ground. This is because of the weight brought on by its diet of minerals, meaning the less the Alicanto eats the faster it can move. The Alicanto lives in hills and caves filled with many precious minerals. In fact, the Atacama Desert where it lives, which exists in real life, is known for being rich in minerals[1].

Because of this, minners and prospectors often sought out this bird. It is said that if a person successfully manages to follow the Alicanto, they shall be led to a cave or hill, where they will find great amounts of precious ores and thus become wealthy. However, if the person is spotted, the Alicanto will turn off its glow and fly away, leaving the person lost in the dark. Additionally, if the person following the Alicanto is not pure of heart, it will grab the person and drop them to their death.

Sources:

-https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicanto

-https://awasi.com/blog/bedtime-stories-the-alicanto-bird

-https://ztevetevans.wordpress.com/tag/alicanto-bird

-https://occult-world.com/alicanto

[1]-https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert#:~:text=The%20Atacama%20Desert%20is%20rich,sodium%20nitrate%2C%20and%20potassium%20salts.

[spidermilkshake]

Ancardia's Unusual Animals--The Alicanto

Classification: Beast (avian)

Habitat: Montane forests in the Silver Coasts and Fallar region, as well as parts of the Southern Drakalors.

            The Alicanto is a peafowl-like bird of the western southern hemisphere which is known for its fabulous metallic-hued plumage—to the extent that folktales have cropped up which ascribe its beautiful colors to the hues of the precious metals it no doubt consumes. While alicanto do eat grit like many other birds, especially the seed-eating species, they are not known to have an actual preference to anything derived from gold or silver, as the legends tell. Historically, alicanto have been trapped and attempts to train them into leading miners to viable veins of silver or gold have been fraught, usually ending with famine and death for both birds and miners.

            Alicanto have gender dimorphic appearances—the males being a more vibrant gold hue with portions of metallic green and silver on the wings and tail plumes, as well as black striping near the eyes and cheeks. The females are usually mostly a dull silvery hue all over, but for some black and white on the wings and a wave of gold among the tail feathers. The birds have an omnivorous diet much like many galliform birds, and most of their diet consists of seeds, small insects, greenery and some other invertebrates. They live for an estimated 12 years in the wild and are considered adults by about 8 months of age. At one time in history, before the tales of their precious-metal association were as widespread, the alicanto was an occasional game bird for the Doravn folk who lived in the same regions; this practice of alicanto hunting has overall ceased due to the now low numbers of these birds—likely due to poaching for both exotic pet trades for status-symbol animals and for their beautiful plumage among the upper class of both the Ayn Kingdom and the Heartland Empire.

[animedonkey]

the rest of my trading cards for work, we cut the list short but that means i’ll have more for later events

[cryptids-of-the-world]

The Alicanto is a large, bioluminescent bird found in Chile. The Alicanto is described as a large bird that is the size of an eagle with a bioluminescent glow that can either be gold or silver depending on which precious metal it eats. The Alicanto is said to eat gold or silver and sometimes it eats too much that it gets weighed down and cannot fly. Seeing an Alicanto is said to be a sign of good luck and if you see one and follow it without it seeing you, it will lead you to the precious metals you seek however if it sees you it may knock you off a cliff or lead them to a ravine where you will fall to your death. It has been said that if the Alicanto finds someone it likes it will help them finde the gold as long as the person shares their findings with it.