Bird symbolism

Bald Eagle

In many cultures around the world, birds are seen as a supernatural link between Heaven and Earth. In the Middle East and other part of Asia, birds symbolize immortality. In East Indian mythology, birds represent departed souls. In Christian art, birds often are depicted as saved souls.

Eagles represent power, resurrection and courage. They embody faith and inner reflection. In ancient Greek and Roman times, artists depicted a soaring eagle carrying a soul to Heaven.

Cranes are associated with long life, health, happiness, wisdom and good luck. In Asian culture, white cranes can travel to the heavens. In China, cranes flew with the gods to the "isle of the Immortals."

Sandhill Crane

The dove is regarded as the sign of peace and life. It was the bird Noah released after the flood in order to find land; the dove returned with an olive leaf, a sign of life and renewal. The Hebrew story acquired the meaning of peace during the Christian era. As Christian icons, the dove also symbolizes the Holy Spirit.

The hawk is represented as warlike, the opposite of the peace of the dove. However, treatment of the hawk as warlike is a secular and relatively recent term, entering the popular American culture during the 1800s.

In some societies, the falcon is a protective guardian and companion of hunters. In ancient Egypt, the falcon was associated with the Eye of Horus and the god Ra. Horus was believed to appear in the form of a falcon-headed god. He could see all because one eye was the sun and the other was the moon.

In dreams, owls represent wisdom, insight and virtue. However, the owl can also be an omen of death and darkness. An owl's hoot foretells future heartache and warms that deception or death lies ahead.

Nightingale

The nightingale, with its evening song, is the bird of love, sheltering secret lovers from prying eyes. Because it sings all night, it was once thought to not sleep at all. Legend tells of a reluctant shepherdess who kept postponing her wedding date. This caused the fiancée so many sleepless nights that he finally turned her into a nightingale to condemn her to a sleepless life.

The nightingale's song is cherished around the world and considered to be a good omen for poets, writers and singers.

The raven features prominently in another love story: a man's devotion the death of his beloved Lenore, as the poet Edgar Allen Poe tells the tale. Having entered the brooding man's chamber, the man asks the raven his name. "Nevermore," replies the raven to repeated demands, enraging the man. Poe leaves it unclear as to whether the raven knows what its word means or whether the bird gets pleasure out of the man's loss. The poet Homer and the Bible both refer to ravens, the former depicting the ability to erase memories and the latter suggesting a source of medicinal cure.

Peacock

Peacocks represent spring, birth, new growth, longevity and love. The peacock's beauty is welcome in temples, royal gardens and, according to one Muslim tradition, the Gates of Paradise. The eye patterns in the peacock's tail feathers represent the stars, universe, sun moon and "the vault of Heaven."

The sparrow is a symbol of rebirth, resurrection and the mother goddess. The long battle of Troy was forecast when nine sparrows, one for each year of war, were eaten by a snake. As a Christian symbol, the sparrow represents the concern of God for the least among His people. Sparrows are always under God's protection.