Feather ornament

This ornament with blue and white feathers comes from the Ayoré or Ayoreo people in Bolivia. There are wing-feathers from Blue Ara (Ara ararauna), Red-green Ara (Ara chloropterus), Snow Heron (Egretta thula) and a large owl or Potoo (family Nyctibiidae). The feathers are tied in a double string of vegetable fibre and held together with a thin support wire. One of the cords is coloured dark brown. This object is worn by men around the neck, covering the back. Among the Ayorés birds are important in many forms. Some of them indicate the changing of the seasons through their song while others are viewed as important beings that connect worlds, like the hummingbird.