"Bird language" is frequently used in Kuskoy, which is a village in Turkey and it is also known as “bird village.” It is highly developed whistling system. It is used to communicate across long distances in mountainous terrain. This language was prevalent across the Black Sea regions of Turkey 50 years ago.
The UN cultural agency has declared “bird language” as endangered part of world heritage and urged the world to protect it.
This language evolved 500 years ago during Ottoman Empire and became quickly widespread across Black Sea regions of Turkey. People communicate with each other by winging whistles, with high pitch noises to connect one remote house on the rocky terrain with the other. It can reach at greater distances of up to 5 km.
But 50 years ago, with the advent of technology, this language suffered a lot. Rapid growth of mobile systems has put this cultural heritage under threat and replaced it with text messages. New generation is also not interested to learn this language and few generations have completely forgotten it.
“We are very satisfied that our bird language is now a part of the world culture heritage. It was a dream come true because we think that it will also inspire others .The mobile phones have had a certain impact on our whistle tradition here, but we are trying to keep our culture alive,” said the Muhtar, the elected headman of Kuskoy.
It might sound like a combination of high pitched voices. But listening to these people having full conservation is really amazing.
Efforts are being made to keep this language alive through annual Bird Language festival in Kuskoy. The authorities have also started teaching this language at school level. Currently there are 10,000 people in the world who know to speak bird language.
“Whistle language is transmitted from our elders to us and we have the duty to transmit it to our children in the context of parent-child relations. It’s a knowledge which is shared by a mother to her child,” said Muhtar Kocek.
UNESCO has warned that Kuskoy’s bird language is still facing uncertain future and safeguarding measures should be taken to protect it.