The inspiration of birds

In Kwakwaka'wakw myth the thunderbird is a giant creature believed to be Chief of all the birds Zoom In

Birds have been a source of inspiration throughout history. They have had a powerful place in our cultures as symbols of freedom and wisdom as well as spirituality.

Birds can inspire and amaze us with their beauty, songs and ability to fly, and are present in the culture of virtually every human society, especially in the arts, religions and mythologies. In our contemporary cultures they are always present in our lives in art works, brand logos and even postage stamps.

Every bird has an allure of its own. For some their beauty is their plumage, for others it is their flight, their song, their courtship displays, or a combination of each.

Birds also speak to us in many ways and with many voices: in myths, songs, folklore and poetry. They are also a source of profound spiritual inspiration. Their songs can seem as sublime as the most accomplished musician, and together their chorus becomes an impromptu symphony.

In some cultures birds have the status of deities and are considered divine. In others they represent freedom and transcendence and can have a potent effect on us.

Ye blessed Creatures, I have heard the call
Ye to each other make; I see
The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee;
My heart is at your festival.
—William Wordsworth, England

Their charm and charisma ensures they figure prominently in our folklore and literatures, and their potent symbolism means they appear repeatedly in our myths, poems and art.

Birds remind us of the richness and complexity of life. They come in all shapes and colours, and live in almost every habitat on Earth from the tropics to the poles, from blue waters and freezing ice to the heat of the deserts and the moist humidity of tropical rainforests.

Unassisted, birds also master their environment in ways that we can only hope to with parachutes or gliders. Think of the majestic Wandering Albatross that wings and glides its way across thousands of miles of the Southern Ocean in one trip. And in the most desolate of places birds can also bring the scene to life – a skein of geese honking as they fly across the tundra or an ostrich striding along the ridge of a desert sand dune. Imagine a rainforest – or your own garden – without birds and birdsong and you realise how our lives would be the poorer without them.

Even in the most artificial city environment they remind us of the passing seasons and the rhythms of nature: dawn and dusk, spring and autumn, silence and song, motion and stillness.

The arrival of migratory birds in the northern hemisphere, such as cranes or geese, heralds the warmth and sunshine of spring and summer, while their departure marks the falling of leaves in autumn and foretells the chill winds of winter.

Now the long, wailing flight of geese brings autumn in its train,
So to the view-tower, cup in hand, to fill and drink again,
And dream of the great singers of the past,
Their fadeless lines of fire and beauty cast.
I have felt the wild-bird thrill of song behind the bars,
But these have brushed the world aside and walked amid the stars.
—Li T'ai-po, China

Down through the ages a thread links the ancient shaman's affinity with birds to the poets, storytellers and film-makers of the modern world. Our collective imaginations, awed by their beauty, flight and song, have readily adopted them as symbols.

Poets from Aristophanes and William Shakespeare to Pablo Neruda and Ted Hughes have embraced them. In Shakespeare's Macbeth 'the temple-haunting martlet' is contrasted with the ominous crow winging its way towards 'the rooky wood'. In Romeo and Juliet the lark, bright bird of dawn and joy, is juxtaposed with Philomel the Nightingale, an almost sombre-looking bird associated with passion.

Nobel laureate and one-time resident of Barcelona, Pablo Neruda eloquently expresses the inspiration of birds in a poem from "Art of Birds" entitled "The Poet Says Good-Bye to the Birds".

"... A people's poet,
provincial and birder,
I've wandered the world in search of life:
bird by bird I've come to know the earth:
discovered where fire flames aloft:
the expenditure of energy
and my disinterestedness were rewarded,
even though no one paid me for it,
because I received those wings in my soul
and immobility never held me down."
—Pablo Neruda, Chile