The Folklore of Birds by Alison Davies: Which bird was instrumental in the death of Christ

Whether it’s the early bird that catches the worm or the smoothing of ruffled feathers, birds and their habits are woven into our language and our conscious-ness.

In the words of David Attenborough: ‘What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?’

This charming little book takes as its starting point the myths and superstitions that surround birds.

According to Christian mythology, the goldfinch, right, got its red cap after it pulled a thorn from Christ’s brow while he was on the Cross.

The robin owes its red breast to having fanned a fire to keep the baby Jesus warm. When the robin flew too close to the flames, its chest feathers turned bright red.

In English folklore, it was believed that eating owls’ eggs raw as a child would forever protect you from drunkenness.

If a blackbird nested close to your home, then you would be blessed with good luck, while seeing two turtle doves together was a sign that you were destined for true love.

Quirky facts come thick and fast. The maligned crow is highly intelligent, with an excellent memory, good problem-solving skills and the ability to hold a grudge.

The magpie is a model of chivalry; if the male dies while the female still has eggs in the nest, a new male will step in to protect them. Davies believes their reputation was blackened by the Victorians, who thought they were ‘in cahoots with the devil’.

The kingfisher, something of a grumpy loner even if it is arguably Britain’s most beautiful bird, was the inspiration for the designers of Japan’s bullet train. Noticing how the birds dived into the water with barely a splash, engineers designed the front end of the trains to mimic the shape of the kingfisher’s beak, and managed to reduce the sonic boom when a bullet train enters a tunnel.

Many birds are a marvel of ingenious design. The woodpecker has a tongue so long that it can be wrapped right around its head; it acts like a belt to anchor the woodpecker as it drills into the wood.

Ducklings, while still in the egg, communicate with clicking noises, letting each other know when they are going to hatch, so they can co-ordinate and find safety in numbers.

If you’ve ever wondered how it is that vultures are able to devour rotting carcasses, the rather gruesome answer is that their gastric acid is stronger than battery acid, and dissolves any bones that they consume.

Beautifully illustrated by Sarah Wildling, this book will leave you with an appreciation of even the most familiar birds. I’ve delighted in the goldfinches in my garden, but I love them even more now I know that the females will decorate the outside of their nest with a sprinkling of little flowers.