Japiim is a well-known bird in northern Brazil, primarily in the Santarém region of the state of Pará and in some parts of the Amazon.
The legend of Japiim revolves around the Sun God.
The Sun God had Japiim as a bird that sang for him because its song was very beautiful. Thus, Japiim sang to lull the Sun God to sleep, and it pleased him greatly.
Over time, Japiim began to notice that there were other birds singing and thought that their songs might please his master, the Sun God. That's when Japiim decided to sing the songs of other birds, doubting that his own song alone no longer pleased his master, that it was losing its effect, and that the Sun God had grown tired of it.
That’s when the Japiim began to imitate the songs of other birds. But when the Sun God heard this, he said that the Japiim’s song was very beautiful and that his song alone was enough to make him sleep and bring him peace. Still, the Japiim continued to mimic the songs of other birds. So the Sun God cursed him, saying that from that moment on, the Japiim would lose his own song and would be doomed to only imitate the songs of others. The Japiim lost his unique, personal song, and from then on lived by copying all the other birds.
To this day, the Japiim can be heard singing in communities and villages along the banks of the Tapajós River, imitating everything—even the sound of a motorcycle horn parked in front of its nest, though it cannot imitate human speech. It mimics the songs of other birds so well that it confuses listeners. Sometimes, when you think you’re hearing a specific bird, it turns out to be the Japiim, who no longer has a song of his own, but lives by imitating everyone else’s.