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The Language of Birds?
Silbo Gomero is a method of transposing the sounds of spoken Spanish into whistles. Arika Okrent at mental_floss explains:
The human voice can only carry so far, but a whistle can travel for miles. In the mountains and ravines of La Gomera, in the Canary Islands, a language of whistles has been used for centuries to transmit long distance messages with amazing accuracy.
The article goes on to explain that there are other whistle-languages known in other parts of the world.
In Ghanaian folklore, the mmoatia communicate by means of a whistling language, and whistling in the forest is a sure way to get their attention.
In the world of Taylor Smart, many fae are familiar with the language of birds—a detail I added in honor of The Hobbit, although Tolkien no doubt was inspired by Germanic mythology, where this ability comes up from time to time.
It would definitely be a handy skill to have, especially since you can rarely get a cell phone signal in faery-land.
Mmoatia: Ghanaian Tricksters of the Forest
Terracotta head (mma), art of the Akan people of Ghana
Mmoatia (singular, aboatia) are forest dwellers known to the Akan or Ashanti people of Ghana. In traditional religious thought, they are seen as a subclass of abosom, intermediary spirits or deified ancestors. They are believed to be very short in stature, standing not more than one foot high—although this may be a reference to carved wooden representations of them and not to the beings themselves. They have curved noses and yellowish skin. Their feet are said to point backwards.
These beings communicate with each other through a unique whistle language, and whistling in the bush is a sure way to draw their attention.
They are credited with a phenomenal knowledge of medicines, which they are willing to impart to herbalists or medicine men. Sometimes Ghanaians are taken by mmoatia that live deep in the woods. Some who are captured by the mmoatia begin to learn their ways and emerge after several years as herbalists. The mmoatia have always lived in the jungle and know how to use its plentiful resources to cure to all diseases. Their favorite food is bananas.
Mmoatia are divided into three tribes or bands: Black Mmoatia are harmless, but Red and White Mmoatia are always up to some kind of trickery—though they are not truly malevolent like the sasabonsam, a vampire-like ogre. Mmoatia signify unpredictability, mockery, and trickery. They function as messengers between the realms of spirit and corporeality—messengers of the abosom.
Darrell J. Pursiful 