What does «guajojo» mean in Spanish?
- Melancholic songbird. Scientific name Nyctibius griseus. Other common names in other countries: nictibio, common urutaú, ghost bird, northern biemparado, cacuy, lesser stake bird or common staquero. It inhabits Central and South America, from Nicaragua to the north and northeast of Argentina.
♦ Used in: Bolivia - (leyenda del guajojó) Name of an old Bolivian legend that tells of a beautiful young woman from a tribe of the Chiquitanía. This woman was the daughter of the cacique of her tribe, but fell in love with a young man of lower status. When the father discovers this romance, using trickery, he takes the lover to the jungle and murders him. She discovers her beloved dead next to her father and threatens to tell everything that happened in the tribe. Using his magic, the cacique turns her into a horrible night bird; before the metamorphosis is finished, she manages to pronounce the name of her beloved: "Guajojo".
♦ Used in: Bolivia