Bird's-eye view: These creatures are humankind's oldest fortune tellers

[Judi Lynn]

From death and good crop to weather patterns and political futures, birds have been used to foretell everything.



Pixel-mixer/Pixabay [Licensed under CC0]

Yesterday · 08:30 pm

People around the world and throughout history have used birds to think about and predict the future. In Wales, the call of an early-arriving cuckoo in the spring foretells a good crop of hay later in the year. For Aymara speakers in the South American Andes, seeing a yellow-headed vulture is good luck, while spotting a black vulture is bad. In the Kalahari, southern Africa, !Xõ hunters carefully watch the black-faced babblers after an antelope hunt for signs of where their wounded prey may be.

Of all the ecological knowledge people around the world use in their day-to-day lives, an awareness of birds and bird behaviour is among the most ubiquitous.

Karen Park and I explored this phenomenon in our research, Listen Carefully to the Birds. Comparing reports from six continents, we found that people from diverse communities pay attention to particular birds and what they reveal about the world around us, from approaching weather to illness, mortality and the supernatural.

We looked at more than 500 accounts, in 123 languages, of how birds are “read” in this way. Perhaps unsurprisingly, owls were the most commonly cited bird as signs or omens, and were usually related to death, ghosts and fear, but occasionally to something more positive, such as the beginning of summer.

More:
https://scroll.in/article/955522/bird-s-eye-view-these-creatures-are-humankinds-oldest-fortune-tellers

[2naSalit]

1. It's true in all cultures that I have ever

heard of. I even use them as indicators on a daily basis.

[Anon-C]

2. How auspicious!

[sprinkleeninow]

3. We have Bluebirds of happinesses year round.

I buy mealworms for them. May need to apply for an equity line for satisfying their gourmet palate. 😄 Almost $15 a bag! But they're worth it.

[Jamastiene]

4. True. Sometimes, squirrels too.

At least, when it comes to whether or not it is going to snow in my area, both the bird and the squirrels make MUCH better meteorologists than the ones on TV, who are licensed to do it.

We rarely have snow where I live and if we do, the temperatures will be hovering at around below freezing to above freezing just right to make everything turn to an icy, slippery mess very quickly. Plus, we are guaranteed to lose power because Duke fucking piece of shit Energy has a monopoly and they take their own sweet time getting the power back on. That is why everyone panics when they say snow where I live. That explains most of the stupidity over it. The milk sandwiches I cannot explain, to this day. I still don't know why on that.

If the TV meteorologists say we are going to have snow and especially ice or sleet, I look to the birds and squirrels and certain things they do and certain species of birds I normally ONLY see when it snows to find out if it is true or not. If it is actually going to snow, the squirrels get MUCH hungrier than normal, even though I know the ones at my bird feeder are not hungry, lol. I'm not stingy at the bird feeder. I see juncos and starlings and orioles then too. Normally, I never see those species UNLESS it is going to snow or ice over for a few days. I see Rufous Towhees, but hardly ever orioles. I look forward to snow, because I love snow, but I also look forward to getting to see orioles and starlings and juncos.

Plus, I love that there is a difference between how a Carolina Chickadee sounds compared to how the other species of chickadees sound. I love how they have their own little regional language.

[yonder]

5. Nice post and thank you.

[KT2000]

6. I recall the Chief of a local tribe

was in the hospital nearing the end of his life. Many eagles circled above the hospital until he died. Then they left.

The canary in the coal mine is also a predictor.

[Sherman A1]

7. K&R