Bird Omens

Documented across

Afghanistan1 Argentina4 Azerbaijan2 Bahamas1 Bangladesh1 Bolivia2 Brazil3 Canada1 China3 Colombia3 Costa Rica1 Croatia4 Cuba3 Cyprus2 Estonia3 Fiji3 France4 Germany3 Ghana2 Greece2 Iceland1 India2 Iran2 Iraq1 Ireland2 Italy2 Jamaica4 Japan1 Jordan1 Lebanon1 Lithuania1 Madagascar1 Mexico2 Morocco3 Nepal3 Nigeria1 Norway1 Pakistan5 Paraguay1 Peru4 Philippines5 Poland2 Russia3 Samoa1 Spain4 Sri Lanka2 Sweden1 Thailand3 Tonga3 Turkey1 United Kingdom4 United States4 Uzbekistan2 Venezuela2

Location labels show where a version has been documented; they do not imply that everyone in that place shares the belief.

All documented locations

Birds Around the Home5

Bird at the Window Superstitions

A bird appearing at a window does not have one fixed meaning in recorded folklore. Older British material treats birds […]

Bird Droppings Luck Superstitions

Being hit by bird droppings is often treated as a good-luck omen, but the recorded meanings are not identical everywhere. […]

Bird Entering the House Superstitions

A bird flying into a house has often been treated as an omen, but documented folklore does not give the […]

Bird Hitting a Window Superstitions

A bird hitting a window has been interpreted as an omen in several recorded folk traditions, but the surviving evidence […]

Bird Nesting on the House Superstitions

In several documented European traditions, a bird nesting on a house could be read as a favorable omen, but the […]

Crows, Ravens & Magpies5

Crow Calling Superstitions and Omen Meanings

A crow calling near a house has no single folklore meaning. Surviving records give very different readings: an arriving guest, […]

Crow Crossing Your Path Superstitions

A crow crossing your path has no single fixed meaning in folklore. In several older British records, a lone crow […]

Magpie at the Window Superstitions

A magpie at a window does not have one fixed meaning across folklore. The clearest historical records are narrower: an […]

Magpie Number Superstitions and Counting Rhymes

Magpie number superstitions treat the number of birds seen together as an omen. The best-known pattern begins with one magpie […]

Raven Sightings and Folk Omens

A raven sighting does not have one fixed meaning in folk tradition. Historical records describe ravens as warnings of death, […]

Domestic Birds5

Chicken Entering the House Superstitions

A chicken walking into a house does not have one fixed meaning in folklore. Surviving records give very different interpretations […]

Hen Crowing Superstitions and Folk Omens

A hen crowing like a rooster has been treated in several recorded folk traditions as an unusual omen. British, Irish, […]

Peacock Calling Superstitions and Folk Meanings

A peacock’s loud call has carried more than one folk meaning. In documented traditions, it most often appears as a […]

Rooster at the Doorstep Superstitions

A rooster crowing at a doorstep does not carry one fixed meaning in recorded folklore. A tradition collected in Tiercahan, […]

Rooster Crowing at Night Superstitions

A rooster crowing in the middle of the night has been treated as an omen in several documented folklore traditions, […]

Flight, Calls & Finds5

Bird Calling at Night Superstitions

Hearing a bird call at night has been treated as an omen in recorded folklore, but there is no single […]

Bird Crossing Your Path Superstitions

A bird crossing your path does not have one universal superstition. In documented folklore, the meaning can change with the […]

Finding a Dead Bird Superstitions

Finding a dead bird has no single fixed meaning in recorded folklore. Surviving collections attach different omens to different circumstances: […]

Finding a Feather Superstitions and Folk Meanings

Finding a feather does not have one universal folk meaning. In present-day spiritual belief, an unexpected feather—especially a white one—is […]

Flock Circling Overhead Superstitions

A flock circling overhead does not have one fixed meaning in folklore. Some documented traditions connect birds circling or hovering […]