Dreamtime Stories
🌐English
EnglishFrançaisEspañolPortuguês (BR)Português (PT)
Get the app
StoriesJournalVideosFAQ
EnglishFrançaisEspañolPortuguês (BR)Português (PT)
Get the app
How the Birds Got Their Colours
World Tales

How the Birds Got Their Colours

The Dove, the Parrot, and the First Bright Feathers
10 min🇦🇺 Australia5 languages
Discover Dreamtime Stories on Google Play →

This story page remains available, but this title is not currently open in the app.

The presentation

In this gentle Bardi retelling, a hurt dove is helped by the other birds, and kindness leaves bright color on the wings of the sky.

  • Best for ages5 to 10
  • Length10 min
  • OriginAustralia
  • Read along5 languages
  • AdsNone, ever
  • OfflineYes, once downloaded
Where this story comes from

How the Birds Got Their Colours is a traditional folktale with roots in Oceania. In Dreamtime Stories it is retold gently for bedtime, with unhurried narration, soft animated artwork and read along text, so children meet a story from another culture while they wind down for sleep.

More folktales from Oceania →
Keep exploring

More stories like this

How Maui Slowed the SunHow Maui Slowed the Sun
World Tales · 8 min
How the Kiwi Lost His WingsHow the Kiwi Lost His Wings
World Tales · 7 min
Rainbow SerpentRainbow Serpent
World Tales · 5 min
Aldar Kose's Magic CoatAldar Kose's Magic Coat
World Tales · 7 min
From the Journal

For curious parents

A child sitting up in bed at night, looking up wide-eyed at a listening parent, an open glowing storybook between themWhy Children Ask Why, and the Stories That Answer
Folklore and science
Parents ask

Questions about How the Birds Got Their Colours

What age is How the Birds Got Their Colours for?

How the Birds Got Their Colours is a calm bedtime folktale for children aged 5 to 10, narrated gently so it works as part of a wind down routine before sleep.

How long is How the Birds Got Their Colours?

How the Birds Got Their Colours runs about 10 min, a comfortable length for a single bedtime listen.

What languages is it available in?

The narration and read along text are available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese (European and Brazilian), five languages in total, so families can listen and read in their own language.

Does Dreamtime Stories have ads?

No. Dreamtime Stories has no ads and no behavioral advertising. How the Birds Got Their Colours plays start to finish with nothing that interrupts a child at bedtime.

Can we listen offline?

Yes. Once a story is downloaded in the Dreamtime Stories app it plays offline, so bedtime works without Wi Fi, on a plane or in the car.

Discover a new story tonight

This story page remains available, but this title is not currently open in the app.

Get it on Google Play, free →