The Spot-Bellied Eagle Owl Known As The Devil Bird Of Sri Lanka, With Hearts In Its Feathers

In Sri Lankan folklore, a woman whose child was murdered by her husband went mad and ran off into the jungle to commit suicide. After her death, the gods transformed her into a creature called the ulama, or devil bird, whose horrible, human-sounding wail in the distance is a portent that something terrible is about to happen [source: Dole].