Jatayu

A virtuous vulture in the Ramayana, the
earlier of the two great Indian epics.
When Rama’s wife Sita is kidnapped by
the demon-king Ravana and is being
spirited away in Ravana’s aerial chariot,
Jatayu makes a valiant effort to rescue
her. In his battle with Ravana, Jatayu’s
wings are cut off; the force of his subsequent fall left him near death. With his
dying breaths he informs Rama and
Rama’s brother Lakshmana of what has
happened, and identifies Ravana as
Sita’s kidnapper. Although Jatayu fails to
rescue Sita, he is critical to the plot of the
epic because he gives Rama the crucial
information he needs to begin to
searching for her.