12 Bird Superstitions

Birds have been associated with myths and omens since early mankind with many ancient people believing our feathered friends to be messengers from the gods or even representations of the gods themselves.

Today most cultures throughout the world have superstitions that are centred around birds – some of these are universal while others are regional and it seems nobody can agree on whether birds bring good or bad luck.

Here we take a look at some bird superstitions from around the world, both well known and more unusual. If you know of any others, let us know in the comments below.

Crow In A Churchyard

01

Crows in a churchyard are a sign of bad luck

In fact seeing crows anywhere tends to bring bad luck, unless you happen to find a dead crow in the road, which surprisingly will bring you good luck.

Running second only to black cats, crows have a very bad press when it comes to omens. In just about any creepy scene in a film you will hear the background noise of crows calling and of course Alfred Hitchcock made a whole film about what happens when these birds attack. A particularly suspenseful scene in The Birds is of a murder of crows gathering quietly in a playground behind an oblivious Tippi Hedren.

As far back as Ancient Greece, it was believed that the arrival of a crow at a wedding reception would mean an inevitable divorce. And another crow superstition associated with marriage is that two crows should be released during the ceremony; if the two birds flew away together the marriage would be happy and successful, but if the two crows parted company then the bride and groom too would soon be separated.

Bird Poo On Statue

02

A bird pooing on your head brings good luck

Although it will probably result in the worst bad hair day ever, you shouldn’t fret if you have the misfortune to have a bird deposit its droppings on your head or shoulders because this unfortunate event is actually supposed to bring good luck and even wealth.

There isn’t a consensus on the origin of this superstition, but one idea put forward is that it is such an unlikely, yet disgusting occurrence that it is only right that something positive makes up for it.

Peacock Feathers

03

Bringing peacock feathers into the house is bad luck

This is an old superstition and an even earlier version claims that having peacock feathers in the house not only brings bad luck but destines any unmarried female to become an old maid.

Many actors will not allow peacock feathers to be brought onto the stage either as a prop or part of a costume and veteran actors and directors have recounted tales of sets falling down during performances that involve peacock feathers.

It is thought the superstition originated in the Mediterranean where the evil eye markings are said to represent the eye of he she-devil Lilith who is responsible for the unexplained deaths of children. By keeping peacock feathers in the house she is ever present and able to watch over your home.

However, in India, China and Japan bringing peacock feathers indoors is actually supposed to increase good luck by providing extra eyes around the house to protect the occupants from danger.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

04

A woodpecker knocking on a house is a sign of an impending death

Throughout the centuries, woodpeckers have been associated with a variety of superstitions particularly around misfortune, and many cultures believe that if a woodpecker knocks on your house, it is foretelling a death. There is a similar belief held around pigeons knocking on windows, as well as white birds or crows flying into windows, as well as the many predictions associated with a bird flying into your house.

In Slavic countries, it’s said that wood that has been drilled into by woodpeckers should not be used for building houses and other infrastructure, as it’s unstable and could quickly catch alight.

However, the ancient Romans and Babylonians looked much more favourably upon woodpeckers, and saw them as signs of fertility and abundance. In Origo gentis Romanae, a literary work that tells the origin of the Roman people, there is a reference to a woodpecker bringing food to Romulus and Remus, twin brothers who in mythology founded Rome, when they were abandoned in the wild.

Albatross

05

It is unlucky to kill an albatross

This is one of many sailors’ superstitions and is referenced in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, published in 1798.

Traditionally sailors considered seeing an albatross to be a sign of good luck, probably originating from the early days of navigation when sailors thought that seeing an albatross meant land was near. Little did they know that albatrosses can live many years at sea without ever setting foot on land!

In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner a sailor shoots and kills an albatross with a cross bow and as punishment the crew of the ship force him to wear the dead bird’s carcass around his neck. This is where the metaphor of an albatross to mean a burden originated from.

The death of the albatross brought terrible bad luck to the ship, including a lack of drinking water – water, water every where, nor any drop to drink – until eventually a ghost ship appears and kills all the sailors.

Cuckoo

06

Whatever you are doing when you hear the first cuckoo predicts your year

There are a lot of superstitions associated with hearing the first cuckoo’s call and some of them are quite bizarre.

For instance, when you see or hear your first cuckoo you should put a stone on your head and run as fast as you can until the stone falls off. You should then return to the spot where it fell the next day and will find money under it.

Similar to a superstition regarding a new moon, when you hear the first cuckoo call it is very important that you have money in your pocket. You should then take the money, turn it over and spit on it and this ritual will bring you good fortune and riches in the forthcoming year. If you happen not to have any money on you then there will be a poor year ahead.

Magpie Branch

07

Magpies carry a drop of the devil’s blood under their tongue

The magpie has an important role in Christian myth. Biblical lore tells us that the magpie was the only bird not to enter Noah’s ark and instead it sat on the roof cackling as the whole world drowned.

Another myth claims that the magpie was also the only bird not to go into full mourning at Jesus’s crucifixion because it was actually the devil in disguise.

These legends may be the source of the belief in Scotland that the magpie has a drop of the devil’s blood under its tongue with some believing that if you cut out the tongue of a magpie it would be capable of human speech.

Like crows, magpies are often associated with all things evil and you can read more about the superstitions that surround magpies here.

Wren

08

Carrying a wren’s feather will prevent you from drowning

This is another sailor superstition, most often associated with the Isle of Man. It appears to have its origins in the mythical story of Chlíodhna, a Celtic sea goddess who seduced men with her singing and lured them to sea where they drowned.

Eventually, some sailors attempted to catch her, but before they were able to, she transformed into a wren and escaped. In anger, the men prayed to their gods who ordered Chlíodhna to appear once a year on St Stephen’s Day taking the shape of a wren to be killed each time by human hand.

Between sunrise and sunset on that day, every man and boy on the island had to hunt down as many wrens as they could, and when they managed to kill one, they would fix it to a pole decorated with leaves and ribbons.

Feathers from the dead wrens would be distributed amongst sailors and fishermen as a charm against drowning.

Although primarily a Manx superstition, the practice of carrying a wren’s feather as a protection from shipwreck and drowning has also been recorded in Devon and other coastal communities in the British Isles.

Robin

09

It is unlucky to kill or harm a robin

The robin is one of our most familiar birds, so it’s not surprising that there are numerous superstitions associated with the species.

Many of them claim that if you were to kill or injure a robin, or damage its nest or steal its eggs, you will be the recipient of some form of bad luck.

For example, in rural folklore, it’s said that if a landowner deliberately kills a robin, then their cows’ milk will be stained with blood, and their home and farm buildings will catch fire, while in Ireland anyone who kills a robin will suffer tremors in the hand that killed it.

Another variation says that if someone were to break the wing or leg of a robin, then they would break their own leg or arm as a consequence. And another says that if you were to smash a robin’s egg then something precious of yours will break.

If you kill a robin accidentally, then you can cancel the bad luck by giving it a proper burial.

Raven In The Tower Of London

10

If the ravens leave the Tower of London, then the Crown and kingdom will fall

It is not known when ravens were first kept at the Tower of London, but records show they were present at the beheading of Anne Boleyn in 1536 when “Even the ravens of the Tower sat silent and immovable on the battlements and gazed eerily at the strange scene”.

One suggestion is that the birds were brought to the Tower to dramatise executions due to their association with death and all things macabre.

The origins of the legend are not clear either. Charles II apparently disliked the ravens due to their droppings falling on his telescope and wanted them moved to Greenwich Observatory which he had commissioned in 1675. In a conversation with the royal astronomer, John Flamstead:

“These ravens must go!” he said. “But, Sire, it is very unlucky to kill a raven,” replied Flamstead, “If you do that the Tower will fall and you will lose your kingdom, having only just got it back!” Charles, being a pragmatist, thought for a moment and said: “The Observatory must go to Greenwich and the ravens can stay in the Tower.”

However, Geoffrey Parnell, the official Tower of London historian, has conducted research which he believes shows that the superstition was invented much more recently. After The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe was published in 1845, Victorians became fascinated with the birds and the first captive birds were brought to the Tower as pets for the staff.

Barn Owl

11

Hearing an owl hooting is a bad omen

There are many superstitions and myths surrounding owls, and most of them foretell bad luck. For example, it’s said that if an owl perches on your roof and hoots, or if you walk under a tree which contains a hooting owl it means a relative or friend will die within a year.

The superstitions about owls go back centuries. The Romans believed owls were omens of impending doom and many famous Romans including Julius Caesar, Augustus and Agrippa supposedly had their deaths predicted by an owl.

They also believed that dreaming about an owl could cause a shipwreck or robbery, while another Roman superstition said that witches transformed into owls and sucked the blood from babies. To ward off the evil, the offending owl would be killed, and its body nailed to the door of the affected house.

There are also some rather specific owl superstitions relating to its hoot. In Wales there is a belief that if an owl hoot is heard among houses, then an unmarried girl has lost her virginity, while another says that if a pregnant woman hears an owl her child will be blessed.

Stonechat

12

The stonechat chats with the devil

‘Stane chack, deevil tak, they who harry my nest will, never rest, will meet the pest, de’il break their lang back, wha my eggs wad tak’ tak’ is a Scottish poem about the stonechat.

Roughly translated, it means that someone who destroys a stonechat’s nest will never rest and will eventually catch a deadly disease, while if they were to take the bird’s eggs, they will break their back.

The stonechat is named for its distinctive call which sounds just like two stones being hit together and according to folklore it is said to be constantly chatting to the devil. Its blood-red breast is meant to serve as protection from all things evil, and some say it carries a drop of the devil’s blood under its tongue.

For such an inoffensive little bird, the stonechat wasn’t much liked in Scotland. According to The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia: or the Original Antiquated and Natural Curiosities of the South of Scotland published in 1824 toads were said to sit on and hatch the stonechat’s eggs, and in the country it was looked at in the same way one might look at a female prostitute.

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113 Responses

  1. I was walking along the street when a bird that was really small went up one nostril and came out the other. Then the bird exploded. After that a dancing pizza came up to me and karate chopped me in the toe. I ran away to the safety of my cardboard box and this is where I am now.

  2. If a red bird flies in your house a death will happen within a year , one flew in my grandmothers house I caught it when I was young and gave it to. Her she twisted it’s head off and died within a year , I’m waiting for my punishment

  3. I never really seen birds this crazy before. this has been happening for months, where I see a bird everywhere I walk. another day I saw a group of birds on the windowsill of my room. what is happening?

  4. What does it mean when a raven bird is flying and hits you in the leg while in the back yard messing with the garden

  5. A bird swooped down on me and hit me on the side of my head. I went inside for awhile then walked back outside and the bird hit me on the other side of my head

    1. Nest near by. Is it a redwinged blackbird could be if you live near marshes or could be another bird.

  6. A Wren flew in my bathroom window threw a 2”hole in the window screen. I caught it with a pillow case in hand and released it hoping to reverse any possible Omen. As it flew off only to land in my driveway my cat came barreling out from nowhere like the National Geographic lion chasing the gazelle.

  7. A native grey bird flew into my house today. I opened the balcony door and he flew out. He left a calling card [poop] on my lounge.

    I had fed a number of birds earlier, and I am sure it was one of them because he entered the house close to where I left the food.

  8. This is actually true. An owl was stuck in our house chimney and was hooting constantly. Two family members died within a week, and I am starting to believe this.

    1. A owl was in the street at night and I almost hit it, then it flew in an old cemetery and 2 of my family members died a week later too

  9. I took a three block walk break after I was jogging a couple of miles and a small bird or something flew and hit my right eye-I saw it coming and I thought it was going to hit the ground and then it just curves right up and then headed right into me. I thought somebody threw something but quickly I looked with my right eye covered and there’s no one around this fucking thing flew right into my eye and bounced off. Pretty hard hit no injury , it was insane but the feeling of it and how the day was before it happened and after was a bit off. Jersey

  10. I sold my house and the morning I went to the house to make sure everything was out and I walk aound the yard, a whole acrea I thought a big bird flew over me and I thought wow that was close but when I look up I didn’t see any birds so I kept walking and a few more yards it happen again when I look up no birds, but both time it was like really big shadow swooping down on me and the second time I thought I need to leave and I left.

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