The Folklore of Birds: The Forgotten Tales Behind Nature’s Most Enigmatic Creatures

by Alison Davies

Did you know that it's considered a sin to harm a robin? Or that seagulls were once thought to be the souls of dead sailors? And do you know what happens if you listen to a blackbird’s song on May Day?

With The Folklore of Birds you can discover the fascinating folklore behind nature’s most intriguing animals.

At once familiar and unknowable, birds have for centuries provided a rich source of speculation and myth-making. From the Catholic belief that barnacle geese were actually fish (and could therefore be eaten on the Sabbath) to the Ancient Greek tale of Ceyx and Halcyone who were transformed into kingfishers after death as reward for their fidelity, our feathered friends have given rise to an astonishingly rich body of myth, legend and superstition.

With its interesting titbits and curious facts coupled with breathtakingly beautiful illustrations, The Folklore of Birds is charming, quirky gift for the birdwatcher in your life. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Science, Folklore, Nature, History

160 pages, Hardcover

Published April 22, 2025

Reviews

[Vaideki Thayumanavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When something seems amazing to the human race, the drive and the ability to loom superstitions and flamboyant tales around it come naturally to us. Similarly, birds have always been wonder to humanity throughout history. Then imagine how every civilization around the world created different mythologies that label a particular bird as positive or negative omen in their culture. A bird that is considered as a sacred to one society is labelled as an evil to another culture. It is absolutely not about that particular bird but about the people who spinned tales around it. Believing such tales is a matter of personal choice. But, through such folktales, we get to know that psychology behind the people who created them and get a glimpse into how those ancient people approached their lives and sometimes their after lives.


To learn such things, I decided to read 'The folklore of Birds' by Alison Davies. She has narrated intriguing folktales of Corvids, singing birds, water birds, and fighting birds from different parts of the world and from different religions. Instead of delving deep diving deep into such folktales, she has focused more on the facts about those birds. Of course, they were interesting, and a lot of information was new to me, but that was a bit contradictory to the title of the book . The illustrations of birds depicted by Sarah Wildling are truly admirable. They were so magical and astonishing!

This book would be a good start to identify whether you have an interest in exploring the world of bird folklore. But if you expect deeper insights of Birds folklore, this book wouldn't be a good choice.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The strength of this book lies in its presentation. It's a smaller-sized hardback with a satisfyingly colourful cover, while Karen Wildling supplies lavish illustrations for each of the selected birds, images which are delightful in their simplicity and shading. Given that this is a British book by a British author, most of the birds chosen are British, with a few notable exceptions (turkeys and penguins to name but two). Be warned, it's a very brief read, one to be chosen for its shelf appeal rather than content which turns out to be rather scant.

Each of the birds written about gets around two to three pages of text, the first half of which is made up of the usual facts you find in many a reference guide, while the second consists of the folklore, most of which is culled from classical mythology, the Romans and Greeks, Norse and Celts featuring predominantly. I would have liked more depth to these folklore sections, which are so superficial that they're typically covered in just a couple of paragraphs, but the presence of some fun facts is an asset, featuring entertaining tidbits such as ducklings clicking in their eggs to signify their readiness to hatch and goldfinch getting their red plumage from the blood of Christ.

[Gillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointingly superficial look at the rich folklore of birds. The book, when it addresses folklore at all, offers only quick anecdotes that lack detail and depth. Time is spent, instead, on the fossil record and well-known facts. The overall impression was that the author didn't know much about birds at all, but had compiled the book through cribbing from a handful of other sources. For example, a tidbit about the pheasant was that it pants to cool down as it doesn't sweat. This is true for many (most?) birds as none of them have sweat glands. It's not unique to the pheasant.

The illustrations are nice, even on Kindle.

[Abbey Donnelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book features bite-sized sections with interesting facts, stories and folklore of different species of birds. My particular favourites were the sections on the Crow and Starling.

Great to pick up for a 5-min read or for a few hours. Beautifully illustrated throughout with well-presented, easy to read spreads. Perfect for people with an interest in birds who aren’t necessarily experts!

[Archibald · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was very informative and captivating, but I felt that the rest of the book delved less into folklore/symbolism and more into just general facts about the different birds, which was disappointing. Definitely worth a read if you’re interesting though!