The ways in which we watch and learn about birds – HD cameras, high-powered spotting scopes and lenses, satellite transmitters, and DNA analyzers – are new, but our interest in birds is very old. Sacred and magical birds are common in folklore, oral traditions, and religious texts, including the Bible, the Torah, the Qur’an, and the Bhagavad-gita. It’s easy to say that ancient people lacked a global perspective and scientific knowledge, but a quick search for birds + omens shows
The Raptor Resource Project