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Bird Symbolism
Unity, freedom, community, the soul, transcendence, spirits of air, ascent, communication, freedom, sight.

Birds Dictionary of Symbols by Jack Tresidder
Embodiments of both the human and cosmic spirit, a symbolism suggested by their lightness and rapidity, the soaring freedom of their night, and their mediation between earth and sky. In ancient Egypt, the soul or individual personality (Ba) was shown as a human-headed hawk leaving the body at death.

The concept of birds as souls is as widespread as the belief that they represent goodness, auguring immortality and joy, an idea delightfully expressed by the playwright Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird of Happiness. In a few cultures, some birds are seen as ill omens, especially ravens and vultures. More usually, birds are auspicious, symbolizing in Hindi thought the love of the gods, bringing) the elixir of immortality (soma) to humanity. In the Upanishads, 2 birds sitting in the Cosmic Tree, one eating and one watching, symbolize the individual and the universal soul. Birds play important roles in man's creation myths or, like the Native American Thunderbird and the Lightning Bird of southern Africa, control elemental powers. The Mesoamerican snake-bird Quetzalcoati combines celestial and earthly powers often separated in other myths, where birds battling snakes depict the fundamental conflict of light and darkness, spirit and flesh. Prehistoric and Egyptian paintings of bird-headed humans symbolize the spiritual side of human nature and the promise of immortality.

Another fundamental symbolism embodies the idea that birds communicate with divinities or, like the dove of the Annunciation, bore messages from them. The Celts venerated them for this reason. Shamans equipped with feathers and bird masks could fly to higher realms of knowledge. Birds thus traditionally stood for wisdom, intelligence and the swift power of thought, far from the modern pejorative bird-brained. Roman divination by the flight or song patterns of birds was perhaps an attempt to decode their superior knowledge. They confide useful secrets to the heroes of many fairy stories. An Aboriginal view is that songbirds can also bear information to their enemies. The expression, a little bird told me, echoes an ancient idea. In Western art, birds can symbolize Air and Touch. The infant Christ is sometimes shown with a bird on a string.

Caged birds (which according to Plato represented the mind) appear in allegories of Spring. In China, the bird is a male symbol (a homonym of penis); however a wild oriole is a freelance whore.

Transcendence; the soul; a spirit; divine manifestation; spirits of the air; spirits of the dead; ascent to heaven; ability to communicate with gods or to enter into a higher state of consciousness; thought; imagination. Large birds are often identified with solar, thunder and wind gods, and their tongues are lightning. Birds are a feature of tree symbolism: the divine power descends into the tree or on to its symbol, a pillar.

2 birds in a tree, sometimes one dark and one light, are dualism, darkness and light, night and day, the unmanifest and the manifest, the 2 hemispheres. Birds often appear in the branches of the Tree of Life with the serpent at its foot; this combination is a union of air and fire, but the bird and serpent in conflict are solar and chthonic powers at war. Fabulous birds also depict the celestial realms and powers opposing the chthonic serpent. Birds frequently accompany the Hero on his quest or in slaying the dragon, giving him secret advice (a little bird told me), and he understands the language of birds. This ability symbolizes heavenly communication or the help of celestial powers, such as angels. A bird on a pillar is the union of spirit and matter, or a symbol of a sun god. A cage of birds represents the mind, according to Plato. Flocks of birds are magic or supernatural powers connected with gods or heroes. Birds' claws portray the Harpies as symbolic of the dark, destructive aspect of the Great Mother.

Alchemic: 2 contending birds are the dual nature of Mercurius, the philosophical mercury, the nous; this can also be depicted by birds flying upwards and downwards.

Buddhist: A bird is a symbol of the Lord Buddha; it also signifies auspiciousness.

Celtic: Ambivalent as both divinity and the happy otherworld, or as magic power and malevolence, as with the raven and wren. The Tuatha can appear as birds of brilliant plumage and be linked together with golden chains when presaging an important event. Birds are also messengers of the gods.

Chinese: Most birds, but especially the cock, crane and peacock, are solar, yang, symbolizing longevity and good fortune.

Christian: Winged souls; the spiritual; souls in Paradise. The Christ Child is often depicted holding a bird.

Egyptian: The human-headed bird represents the power of the soul to leave the body at will. The bird Bennu incarnates the soul of Osiris and is sometimes equated with the phoenix; it is the creative principle, producer of the Cosmic Egg. At death the soul, the Ka, leaves the body in the shape of a bird.

Hindu: Intelligence, Intelligence is the swiftest of birds (Rig Veda); He who understands has Wings (Pancavimca Brahmanan). Garuda is the bird of life, the sky, the sun, victory; it is creator and destroyer of all, a vehicle of Vishnu and sometimes equated with the phoenix.

Islamic: The souls of the faithful living on the Tree of Life. Souls of infidels enter birds of prey.

Maori: The Bird Man is the divinity, the all-seeing, all-wise; strength and valor.

Shamanistic: Ascent to heaven; mediumistic and magical journeying; bird robes and feathers are worn by shamans in their rites; dressed as a bird the soul can take wings.

Taoist: The 3-legged red crow is the solar, yang, principle; it lives in the sun and can also symbolize the Great Triad, the 3 great powers of the cosmos, Heaven, Earth, Man.