Birds have many kinds of meanings and significance to the Native peoples of the Southwest. Sometimes a bird like the owl means different things depending on who is viewing it: Pueblo folks may view an owl as a protective being, while the Navajo see this bird as a harbinger of death. Birds have had a long history in Native designs, serving as messengers or intermediaries with the supernatural world. Their feathers have ceremonial significance.

Fact: Some supernatural birds, like the rain bird and the thunderbird, are symbolic in their own right.