The dunes and the bird - A picture puzzle: Where is the bird? With a magnifying glass, one can see the black and white Moulay-Moulay (white-crowned wheatear from the Sahara, Oenanthe leucopyga), which is traditionally regarded as a lucky charm for travelers.

Mimbres pottery, black on white, Mogollon Culture. Each pot with a hole in the bottom represents a mortuary offering that was "killed," thereby setting its soul free. - A pot in the shape of a bird with an opening at the head end. Diameter: 7.4 inches. MNA
MNA = Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff (Arizona)

Animal design on Mesa Verde pottery. - stylized bird, perhaps a turkey - Mug House, Mesa Verde (Colorado), MVM.
MVM = Mesa Verde National Park Museum (Colorado)

Water jar (olla) in the shape of a bird, painted in reddish brown on white, with a stylized deer or antelope head; cult object (or mortuary offering). Height: 9.64 inches. Mogollon Culture, ASM.
ASM = Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson (Arizona)

The stepped pyramid, or "stairway to heaven," symbolizes rain clouds as well as the paths that lead into the next world (as in ancient Egypt). The design is commonly found on pottery and in pictographs. - Painting of a frieze of birds sitting on the top of three pyramids, red on ochre. Height: 7.2 inches. Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (New Mexico).

A hamatsa bird mask with movable beak. This monster raven serves Bakhbakwalanooksiwey, the cannibalistic creature of the north. Carved by Mungo Martin, one of the best-known artists and chiefs of the Fort Rupert Kwakiutl, (103 cm, MOA)
MOA = Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

The Coast Salish are justifiably famous for their carved spinning whorls, as shown by the example. The figure is surrounded by an otter on the left, a bird on the right, as well as by two bird heads positioned between the head and arms. The whorl is probably maple wood and was acquired in 1884 from the Cowichan Halkomelem on Vancouver Island. (21 cm; NMM)
NMM = National Museum of Man, Ottawa

Bird claw with ovoid; motif from Bill Holm's study of Northwest Coast art forms, 1965.

«Loon». Silk-screen fom Ken Mowatt (39 cm, 1985)

A little Shipibo girl from Paococha on the Río Ucayali admires her mascot, a blue bird. - 1969

Double jug with bird - Inca - Colonia (transition) - excavation in Tacaraca, Ica - 15th century - Regional Museum of Ica - 1976

At the northern arm of the lake Brazo Rico near Calafate with a dead tree and two water birds - Santa Cruz Province - 1973

The ornithological fauna of Central America comprises twenty-two orders and eighty-six families. It is undoubtedly one of the richest in the world and has long been the prestige of the republics of the sub-continent. A multitude of birds appear among the designs that adorn pottery and codices from pre-Columbian times. Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about the exact significance of these animals in the religious life of the ancient inhabitants of the region. The same is true of the jabira, which is the largest stork in the world, a splendid bird represented in this document. - 1977

One of the best represented birds in the ornithological fauna of the Central American republics is a member of the large parrot family, known in the region as the Macaw. These magnificent animals have always attracted human attention. They owe this prestige to the extreme beauty and variety of colours of their plumage. In pre-Columbian times, the Indians used these feathers to make real mosaics. Each feather was carefully attached to a cotton fabric and formed part of complex compositions. Feathers were also used to make ornamental objects such as necklaces and often large headdresses that were worn by priests and members of the nobility during religious ceremonies celebrated with great pomp by all members of the community. - 1977

Dusk in Panama City. The birds, whose name is Chanjame, take up their night quarters on the wires. The picture was taken at 5:45 pm. - 1977

This engraving of a bird is located near Estelí, a town in the north of Nicaragua. It is located 148 km north of Managua on the Panamericana in the central highlands at an altitude of about 840 m and surrounded by mountains up to 1600 m. In pre-Columbian times, the area was settled by the Chorotegas, who called the area Estelí (i.e. blood river). - 1977

The "Rocher Toubeau" is a rock in the middle of the desert in the north of Niger, near the border with Algeria. A lone bird has perched on it to rest. - North Ténéré - Niger - 1975

A Moulay Moulay bird sits on a dead tree stump in the middle of the Arakao. - Aïr - Niger - 1992

270 - Azib n'Ikkis (Morocco). - Metal Age. Extraordinary bird (by the legs) with a square body. One leg has five toes, the other six. The wings (?) hang down with feathers (?). To the right, two daggers. Height of the subject: 0.95 m.

390 - Oued Djérat (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Engraved birds. Their beaks do not allow identification as ostriches.

391 - Oued Djérat (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - On an isolated rock, this extraordinary frieze of birds is discovered. Likely pelicans. There are about a dozen birds, but only the head has been depicted.

Photo Gallery