From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
This list of fictional birds is subsidiary to the list of fictional animals. Ducks, penguins and birds of prey are not included here, and are listed separately at list of fictional ducks, list of fictional penguins, and list of fictional birds of prey.
Birds in legends, mythology, and religion
Swan Maiden - a mythical creature who shapeshifts from human form to swan form. Appears in various traditions.
Abrahamic mythology
Judeo-Christian
- Noah's Dove
- Noah's Raven
- Ravens who fed Elijah
- Broxa
Talmudic
- Bar Juchne
- Ziz - a giant bird said to be large enough to be able to block out the sun with its wingspan.
African mythology
- Lightning Bird - a real or imaginary bird superstitiously associated with special powers, generally lightning.
Aztec mythology
- Quetzalcoatl - a god of wind, creativity, and fertility, frequently depicted as a Feathered Serpent.
Chinese mythology
- Fenghuang - mythological birds that reign over all other birds. Chinese Phoenix.
Cry o* Shang-Yang
- Zhū Què (Vermilion Bird) - a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese constellations; it represents the south and the summer season.
- Sachamo - large bird with horse legs, commonly found in the eastern side of the United States. Controls minds, and has razor sharped talons, made for killing. Likes to feed on fish, and bears.
Egyptian mythology
- Ba
- Bennu - the Egyptian correspondence to the phoenix, and is said to be the soul of the Sun-God Ra.
Greek mythology
- Griffin - a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.
- Harpies - winged death-spirits.
- Phoenix - a mythical sacred firebird.
- Sphinx - a unique demon of destruction and bad luck represented as a winged lion with a woman's head.
- Stymphalian - kept as pets by Ares, they had metal feathers and noxious guano.
Hindu mythology
- Garuda - a lesser Hindu divinity, usually the mount (vahanam) of Vishnu.
- Jatayu - a demi-god who has the form of a vulture. KIA in battle
- Sampaati - brother to Jatayu.
- Aruna - older-brother to Garuda, father of Jatayu and Sampati, with deformed/half-formed lower limbs, charioteeer of Surya the Sun-God and absorbs much of his Heat, thus protecting the earth.
Japanese mythology
- Ho-o - Japanese version of the Chinese Fenghuang.
- Kin-u
- Suzaku - Japanese version of the Chinese Vermillion Bird.
- Yatagarasu - a 3-legged raven who belongs to the sun goddess Amaterasu.
Korean mythology
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Kwakiutl mythology
Magyar mythology
- Turul - a large falcon that helped shape the origins of the Magyars.
Mayan mythology
Mexican
Native American mythology
- Pisia
- Firebird
- Raven - representative spirit of actual ravens, and often depicted as a trickster or culture hero figure, even as the creator of human beings.
- Thunderbird - an enormous bird that causes thunder and stirs the wind from the beating of its wings.
Norse mythology
- Habrok - the "best" hawk.
- Hraesvelg - a giant, who in eagle form, creates the wind by beating his wings.
- Hugin and Munin (Thought and Memory) - a pair of ravens associated with the Norse god Odin.
- Vedrfolnir - a hawk sitting between the eyes of an eagle in the crown of Yggdrasill, the World Tree.
- Víðópnir, a rooster that sits at the top of Mímameiðr (Yggdrasil).
Persian mythology
- Chamrosh - a bird said to live on the summit of Mount Alborz and is the archetype of all birds, said to rule and protect all birds.
- Roc - an enormous mythical bird of prey, often white, reputed to have been able to carry off and eat elephants.
- Simurgh - a gigantic, benevolent, mythical flying creature, often part dog or human.
Russian mythology
- Alkonost - a bird of paradise with the body of a bird and the face of a woman, a derivative of Alcyone.
- Gamayun - a prophetic bird that lives on an island in the east, close to paradise. It is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge and is a large bird with a woman's head.
- Sirin - a mythological creature with the head and chest of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird (usually an owl). Men who heard their songs would forget everything on earth, follow them, and ultimately die. Related to Sirens.
- Zhar-Ptitsa (Жар-Птица) - a magical glowing firebird from a faraway land, which is both a blessing and bringer of doom to its captor.
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Birds in literature
- Bellbirds in Bellbirds, poem by Henry Kendall.
- Blackbirds, Jack and Jill on a hill, told to fly away in the nursery rhyme
- Blackbirds The four and twenty of them, baked in a pie in the nursery rhyme.
- Bullfinch in On the Death of Mrs Throckmorton's Bullfinch, poem by William Cowper.
- Canary, Pip, Beth March's unfortunate canary in Little Women, novel by Louisa May Alcott
- Chicken, Billina, in numerous Land of Oz books by L. Frank Baum
- Chough, Oreb (a "night chough", a fictitious crow-like species) in The Book of the Long Sun and The Book of the Short Sun by Gene Wolfe; also various hawks and "the white-headed one", some kind of vulture.
- Condors, the twin white condors in The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes
- Condor, the divine condor in The Return of the Condor Heroes
- Crane in The Crane is my Neighbour, poem by John Shaw Neilson.
- Crow, in Crow, by Ted Hughes
- Crow in Johnny Crow's Garden, series of children's books illustrated by L. Leslie Brookes
- Crow and Oriole in The Crow and the Oriole, fable, James Thurber, also The Owl Who was God, and The Shrike and the Chipmunks
- Cuckoo in The Cuckoo Clock, novel by Mrs. Molesworth.
- Cuckoo in To the Cuckoo, poem by William Wordsworth.
- Dodo, Pickwick, from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde
- Dove carrying a sprig flies to Noah, indicating the end of the Flood in Book of Genesis
- Duck in Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell and Helen Oxenbury.
- Eagle, The E-Telekeli (a humanoid eagle) leader of the Underpeople in the works of Cordwainer Smith
- Eagle in The Eagle, poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
- Eagle, Thorondor, king of the eagles in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien
- Eagle, Farsight, in the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
- Eagles, Gwaihir and Landroval, in The Lord of the Rings, also by Tolkien
- Goldfinch, Miss Goldfinch the elder and Miss Clara Goldfinch, who have a tea and coffee tavern in Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
- Hawk, Tobias, a human who becomes stuck in the body of a red-tailed hawk in the Animorphs series by K. A Applegate
- Hen, Sally Henny-penny, who re-opens the shop in Beatrix Potter's Story of Ginger and Pickles
- Hen, the black hen in the "Hickety, pickety" nursery rhyme, anonymous.
- Kestrel, Tawny Owl, Mr. Pheasant and several others in Animals of Farthing Wood
- Kingfisher in The Kingfisher, poem by W. H. Davies.
- Kingfisher in Day of the Kingfisher, poem by Paul Grano.
- Kite, Chil, in The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.
- Lory, duck, dodo and flamingos in Alice in Wonderland, fantasy novel by Lewis Carroll.
- Nightingale in The Emperor and the Nightingale, by Hans Christian Andersen.
- Nightingale in The Decameron, stories by Bocaccio.
- Owl, Archimedes, and various hawks, falcons, and white-fronted geese in The Once and Future King by T. H. White
- Owl, Old Brown, in Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
- Owl, Owl in the Winnie the Pooh books by A. A. Milne
- Owl, Hedwig, (a snowy owl) in the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling; also many other owls including Pigwidgeon, Hermes and Errol, used to carry messages.
- Owl in The White Owl in the Belfry Sits, poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
- Owl in the Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttley.
- Owl in the Guardians of Ga'hoole books by Kathryn lasky.
- Parrot, Captain Flint, in Treasure Island, novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Parrot, Polynesia, in Dr. Dolittle stories by Hugh Lofting.
- Parrot, A sarcastic parrot belonging to the title character in Terry Pratchett's
Faust Eric
- Phoenix in E. Nesbit's The Phoenix and the Carpet
- Phoenix, Fawkes, in the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling
- Pigeon in Mrs Peck Pigeon, poem by Eleanor Farjeon.
- Pigeons, Pigeons on the grass, alas, from a poem by Gertrude Stein
- Pigeons, owls, hens, and an eagle in James Thurber's taking issue with Stein's pigeon passage – the story There's an Owl in My Room
- Raptors, numerous bond-birds in the Velgarth books by Mercedes Lackey, mostly raptors, usually selectively-bred for size and intelligence
- Raven in "The Raven," poem by Edgar Allan Poe.
- Raven, Quoth (a raven) in the works of Terry Pratchett (a pun on "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe)
- Ravens, Roäc and Cärc, two ravens from The Hobbit, also by Tolkien
- Raven, Zoltan, in The Gunslinger by Stephen King.
- Robin, the Sparrow, the Rook and the Owl in Who Killed Cock Robin?
- Robin in The Secret Garden, novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
- Robin of the "Little Robin Redbreast" nursery rhyme.
- The Roly-Poly Bird from several of Roald Dahl's books for children.
- Rooster and hen, Chanticleer and Pertelote (his favorite hen) in "The Nun's Priest's Tale" by Geoffrey Chaucer
- Seagull, Kehaar, in Watership Down
- Seagull, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, eponymous character in a short story by Richard Bach. The story has other gull characters as well.
- Skylark in Ode to a Skylark, poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
- Snow Goose, the final form of Kaisa, the dæmon of the witch Serafina Pekkala in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.
- Snow goose in The Snow Goose, novel by Paul Gallico.
- Stork, (presumably a white stork) and a kingfisher (presumably a belted kingfisher) in Little, Big by John Crowley
- Sukh-Shari, in Thakurmar Jhuli, appears commonly in Bangla fairy tales Rupkatha.
- Swan, in The Ugly Duckling, (actually a cygnet) in the story of that name by Hans Christian Andersen.
- Swan, in The Trumpet of the Swan, Louis (Louie in the film) is the mute swan who plays a trumpet as his voice.
- Swallow in The Happy Prince, story by Oscar Wilde.
- Various birds in The Birds, story by Daphne du Maurier.
- Soren in The Guardians of Ga'Hoole seires by Kathryn Lasky
- The Wind Up Bird the unseen character in Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- Many species in Aesop's Fables
- Many species in The Conference of the Birds, a Persian book of poems by Farid ud-Din Attar.
- Many species in La Fontaine's fables.
- Many species in Brian Jacques's Redwall novels.
- Many species in Thornton Burgess's children's stories.
- Many species including the Ratbird in Paul Stewart's Edge Chronicles series.
Birds on the radio
Birds in animation, comics, puppetry, and theme parks
- Abelardo Montoya, a very big parrot, Big Bird's Mexican counterpart on Plaza Sesamo
- The Aracuan Bird, in various Walt Disney cartoons
- Archimedes, an owl in Disney's The Sword in the Stone
- Avianthoth, a half man half bird, from the animated series "Avianthoth: Religion Nation"
- Avenger, an eagle from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, Birdman
- Beaky Buzzard, a buzzard in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and his Mama
- Big Bird, a very big canary, and Little Bird on Sesame Street
- Big Mama, an owl in the Disney film The Fox and the Hound
- Birdy, Kira Yamato's robotic pet created by Athrun Zala as a parting gift; Gundam Seed
- Birdie the Early Bird from Mc Donald's
- Blackbird, a pirate (based on Blackbeard) in The Legend Of Anne Bunny
- Booker, a baby chick in Garfield and Friends
- Buzz Buzzard in Woody Woodpecker
- Buzby, yellow bird of unspecified species in advertisements for British Telecom in the late 1970s/early 1980s
- Gallina Caponata, a big (theoretical) chicken similar to Big Bird in Spanish version of Sesame Street
- Cackle Sisters, elegant chickens from Kissyfur
- Camilla, a chicken and Gonzo's romantic interest on The Muppet Show
- Cathryn Aura and her son Nigel, vultures in Kevin and Kell
- Charlie the Owl in the New Zoo Revue
- Chicken Pig of Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Clay and Walter, pigeons from Between the Lions
- Concord Condor a Tiny Toons Adventures character
- Cow and Chicken
- The Crow is a comic about a superhero associated with a crow
- The crows in Dumbo
- Crow T. Robot, bird-like robot character from Mystery Science Theater 3000
- Dave and Ping Pong,Larrison, Mort 'Almondine in Camp Lazlo
- Diablo, Maleficent's raven, in Disney's animated version of Sleeping Beauty
- The last of the Dodos in Looney Tunes
- Dodo from Animal Crackers
- Dr. Nitwhite, pelican "inventor", Between the Lions
- Emily & Agatha, a two-headed vulture featured in the 1963 Looney Tunes short, Transylvania 6-5000
- The Fiery Phoenix, flaming familiar of G-Force in the Battle of the Planets anime.
- Flit, a hummingbird in Disney's animated version of Pocahontas
- Friend Owl, in Disney's Bambi
- Frobisher (aka Avan Tarklu), an alien shapeshifter from the Dr. Who comic strip who preferred the form of a penguin
- Foghorn Leghorn, a rooster in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons
- Gogo Dodo in Tiny Toon Adventures
- The Goodfeathers (pigeons) in Animaniacs
- Graculus in Noggin the Nog
- The Great Bird Conspiracy in Kevin and Kell
- H. Ross Parrot on Sesame Street
- Giant hawks flown by the Glider Elves in Elfquest comics
- Heckle and Jeckle are magpies that appear in Terrytoons cartoons.
- Henery Hawk, a chickenhawk in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons
- Hooty, the pet owl of superhero Dr. Mid-nite, a DC Comics character
- Howard the Duck in the comic book of the same name
- Howland Owl, and Sarcophagus MacAbre, a vulture in Walt Kelly's Pogo
- Information Hen, reference librarian, Between the Lions
- Jose Carioca, a parrot in various Walt Disney cartoons
- Jose, Michael, Pierre, and Fritz, parrots in Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room attraction at Disney theme parks
- Kehaar the seagull in Watership Down
- Kotreeka birds in Gene Catlow
- Lorelei, chicken character performed by Jim Boyd, from the early seasons of The Electric Company
- Lupe Toucan, Hazel Peacock, Laura Owl, Vanna Flamingo, Cory Vulture, Nate Emperor Penguin, Nathan Rockhopper Penguin, Nathaniel Macaroni Penguin, Miss Loon, Kira Swan are others in My Gym Partner's a Monkey
- Marahute, the grand golden eagle in The Rescuers Down Under
- Matthew, Dream's raven in the DC Comics Sandman series
- Opus, a penguin in Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County
- Ollie, an owl Toonimals!
- Owls in Futurama, considered vermin in the 31st Century
- Owl in Disney's animated versions of the Winnie the Pooh stories
- Owl and Goose in Franklin
- Panchito, a rooster in The Three Caballeros
- Pen2, a penguin from Neon Genesis Evangelion
- The penguin waiters in Mary Poppins
- Penguins in Avatar: The Last Airbender of Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Pigeon, the eponymous avian and central stooge in Sidewards'
- The pigeons from Pigeon Street
- Pino, the blue nephew of Big Bird, appears in Sesamstraat, the Dutch spin-off of Sesame Street
- Poelifinario, a fictitious bird species with a distinctive call, thought up and made famous by Dutch comedian Toon Hermans
- Pokey the Penguin, a penguin living in the Arctic Circle, in the webcomic of the same name
- Professor Yaffle, a Green Woodpecker in Bagpuss (UK)
- Reptile Parrot of Avatar: The Last Airbender
- The Road Runner (a roadrunner) in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons
- Screaming Bird of Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Sam the Eagle, patriotic eagle on The Muppet Show
- Scuttle, a seagull in Disney's The Little Mermaid
- Sheldon, an unhatched chick egg, in Garfield and Friends
- Shoe, a grumpy, cigar-smoking newspaper publisher in his own comic strip
- Shirley McLoon in Tiny Toon Adventures
- Swan, Penguin, Eaglet, Baby birds, Crane,flamingos, Pigeon, and Owl babies safety in Wonderpets
- Superchicken
- Tokimaru a japanese Crested Ibis in Time Bokan 2000 Kaitō Kiramekiman
- Thundra, a phoenix in Aladdin)
- Turtle Ducks of Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Tweety, a canary in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons
- The vultures in Disney's animated version of The Jungle Book
- Watson, duck sidekick to Dr. Nitwhite, Between the Lions
- The Why Bird, in BBC educational programme Playdays
- Woodstock in the Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic strip
- Woody Woodpecker, a woodpecker in the Walter Lantz cartoons
- X, an owl from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, who lives in The Neighborhood of Make-Believe
- Yankee Doodle Pigeon in Hanna-Barbera's Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines
- Ying Ying, Hannibal Roy Bean's henchbird in Xiaolin Showdown
- Yoyo, an owl in The Books of Magic comic book by Neil Gaiman and others
Birds in film
- Babs and Ginger (hens) and Fowler and Rocky (roosters) in Chicken Run
- The Crow (based on the comic of the same name) is about a superhero associated with a crow
- Falcon (a falcon) and Margalo (a canary) in Stuart Little 2
- Hedwig, Pigwidgeon ( owls ) from Harry Potter
- Howard - "Howard The Duck" aka "Howard: A New Breed of Hero" (1986)
- Iago, a parrot in Disney's animated version of Aladdin
- The killer birds in the Hitchcock film The Birds (and the Daphne du Maurier story on which the film is based)
- Lt. Puffin (a puffin) The Swan Princess
- Louie, the main character of EB White's The Trumpet of the Swan
- Mlle. Upanova the Ostrich and other dancing Ostriches from the Dance of the Hours segment of Fantasia
- Mordechai: Pet falcon of Richie Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums
- Nigel, a (Brown Pelican) (Herring Gull), in Finding Nemo
- Ofcr. Whittaker, police chicken partner of Ofcr. Fowl (Jaleel White) in "Whittaker and Fowl", movie Marty Wolf filmed early in Big Fat Liar
- Oliver & Olivia (and friends), two birds featured in War of the Birds; a 1991 Danish movie.
- Gusuke, Milk, Icarus, Babilon, Seagrid, from Doraemon: Nobita's Winged Heroes
- Paulie (a parrot) in the film of the same name
- The Vultures (a gastornis) (phorushrhacos) Ice Age 2: Meltdown
- Waddlesworth (a parrot) in 102 Dalmatians
- Zazu, from The Lion King
- Chip, Bald Eagle in The Little Engine That Could
Birds in music
Birds in sports
Birds in video games
- The Cucco from the Legend of Zelda series
- The Chozo in the Metroid series
- Beat the Bird in Mega Man
- Chill Penguin and Storm Eagle in Mega Man X
- Crow in The Longest Journey
- Overdrive Ostrich in Mega Man X2
- Pentarou in Parodius series, Yume Penguin Monogatari, Antarctic Adventure
- King Dedede, Coo, Pitch, and Dyna Blade (Kirby) from the Kirby series
- General Tsao, Captain LeFwee, Clockwerk, and Arpeggio in the Sly Cooper trilogy
- Maurie, Cass, and Lenny in Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
- Stew, Chick, Penta, Farmer, Evil Twins, from Crash Bandicoot series
- Indian Peafowl, flamingo and ostrich from Zoo Tycoon 2
- Secretary Bird from Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure
- Albatoss in the Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2
- Raphael Raven in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
- Cyber Peacock and Storm Owl in Mega Man X4
- Falco Lombardi in the Star Fox series
- Sgt. James Byrd in the Spyro the Dragon series, beginning with Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon
- Various Pokémon, including Lugia, Chatot, Staravia, Moltres, and Honchkrow, among others.
- Helmaroc King and Kargorocs in the The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- Chocobo in the Final Fantasy series
- Kaepora Gaebora in the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Ooccoo from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Kazooie, the sidekick in the Banjo-Kazooie series
- List of Animal Crossing cha, the owner of the museum in the Animal Crossing series
- Celeste, in Animal Crossing: Wild World, the sister of Blathers
- The Babylon Rogues of Sonic Riders
- Tiki the Kiwi from New Zealand Story
- The condor of the Ice Climber series
- Klepto the condor from Super Mario 64
Birds in commerce
Birds in toys
See also
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