Once Essiya was the king of Calabar town. He used to call upon the animals and the birds to help his people with their work. One day, he decided to appoint head chiefs of different species. The elephant became the king of land animals and the hippopotamus became the king of water animals. But Essiya was confused about the birds. So, he called all the birds from the whole country to fight out. Many birds came, and the hawks started defeating all the birds. Soon the only birds left were the hawks and the big black-and-white fishing eagle, who was perching on a tree calmly watching everything. The hawks began swooping on one another and were badly injured.
At last, they saw the fishing eagle with his terrible beak and cruel claws. Knowing his great strength, they acknowledged the fishing eagle to be their master. Essiya then declared the fishing eagle as the king bird. Thus, whenever the young men of the country go to fight, they always wear three long black-and-white feathers of the king bird in their hair, as they believe that it imparts courage to the wearer.
