I came to think about birds when looking at a book titled “You Can’t Send a Duck to Eagle School” and realized how many human qualities or attribute we associate with birds. Birds seem to lend themselves to be caricatures of humans. Without digging hard, I just wrote down this list:
- Eagle – leadership, doesn’t flock, soaring, vision, nobility, honor
- Duck – awkward, dull
- Flamingo – gay, flamboyant
- Crow – cunning, smart, eerie
- Parrot – smart, funny, cooky, clownish in a Stephen King sort of way
- Dove – mother, home, loyal, nurturing
- Ostrich – dumb, bumbling
- Chicken – eggs, farmyard, barefoot, hay barn
- Seagull – stunts, daring, hunter
- Pelican – watch me fly, watch me, just watch me
- Egret – hunting, fishing, recreation, mountain biking
- Vulture – wisdom, old man, ugly, ghoulish
- Canary – plaything, toy, child
- Sparrow – plain, working class, VW bug
- Goose – soldier, watchdog, aggressive
- Peacock – aristocrat, Porsche driver, actor
- Turkey – Amish, pilgrim, religious, heartland
- Owl – mysterious, secretive, vicious
- Hummingbird – symphony, artist, dancer
- Woodpecker – works at Ace Hardware, lumberjack, hillbilly
- Swallow – NASCAR driver, Olympic skater, athlete
- Swan – King Louis the 14th, stately, rich, not much good for anything
- Roadrunner – funny, fast, cartoonish, Native American
After writing this list down almost effortlessly, I am amazed at the variety of drastically different birds with obviously different personalities, and I just stayed right on the surface.
Where did this all come from, just from thinking about eagles and ducks?