National Bird Day: Celebrate the kind you are based on your zodiac sign

Like “The Notebook” lovers say, “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird.”

Our closest living link to the dinosaurs of yore, birds are an enduring source of fear and fascination, myth and mystery.

The winged are held aloft by humanity on Jan. 5 when we celebrate National Bird Day.

Created by the Avian Welfare Coalition, National Bird Day aims to raise awareness of the hardships faced by our beaked brethren and to inspire changes to create healthier, more sustainable relationships between us.

It is the organization’s goal to “reduce the suffering of birds by raising public awareness of the destructive bird trade, the realities of cruel bird breeding mills, and ways to improve the welfare of birds already in captivity.”

In the spirit of birds of a feather flocking together, we bring you a list of the zodiac signs as birds.

Read on and fly high.

Woodpecker

Like their zodiac counterparts, woodpeckers are relentless, energetic, and quick to announce themselves.

In Roman mythology, Picus was a deified woodpecker held sacred by Mars, the god of war, and the ruling planet of Aries. Arterial red is the power color of Aries, and most woodpeckers have at least a speck and at most a riot of red feathers on their heads. Regarding the physical body, Aries rules the head and skull, and woodpeckers, which drill at a rate of up to 20 times per second, have extra muscles that function like a helmet, protecting their brains from the impact of this drumming.

Hummingbird

Much like Taureans who keep a categorical stock of all insults, appraisements and memorable meals, the hummingbird remembers the precise locations of every feeder and flower they have ever visited and is known to be territorial about their feeding strategies.

The appetites of the average Taurus, both carnal and caloric, are legendary. In kind, the hummingbird eats twice its body weight each day and as a sign of self-care and self-indulgence, Taureans will see themselves reflected in the hummingbird’s habit of going full-bore torpor when snacks are scarce and energy low.

Ravens

With quicksilver tongues and manic momentum, Geminis are ruled by Mercury, the divine messenger of the gods.

In the Norse pantheon, Mercury’s equivalent is Odin, the one-eyed god of poetry who is kept company by a pair of ravens, Huginn and Muninn. These birds, which represent thought and memory, would fly over the world each morning, returning to settle on Odin’s shoulders and whisper of the secrets they had seen.

Goose

Rulers of the fourth house of home and ancestry, Cancer is the archetypical mother of the zodiac.

Relative to this, the goose has long been associated with maternality and creation — from Mother Goose nursery rhymes to Egyptian mythology, which casts “the Great Cackler,” a Nile goose, as the entity that laid the cosmic egg from which the sun was hatched. Egyptians further held the goose sacred for its association with the goddess Isis, the patron of motherhood, fertility and feminine magic.

Swan

Leo is the regal romantic of the zodiac and the swan has a long history as a symbol of love and hierarchies.

According to Greek myth, Zeus seduced Leda by taking on the guise of a swan. Why a woman would want to seduce a bird remains a mystery, but their tryst produced Helen of Troy, a Leo if ever there was one.

Leo is ruled by the sun and Phaethon, the son of the sun god Helios, died while joyriding in his daddy’s dawn-bearing Cadillac. When Cycnus, Phaeton’s lover/friend/relative/reports vary learned of his fate he wept so long and so loudly on the banks of the Eridanus that to ease his sorrow (and cease the sound) the gods turned him into a Mute swan and it is from this myth that the term ‘Swan Song’ originates.

Bowerbird

The Audubon Society notes that the brilliant bowerbird, much like the average Virgo, is meticulous: sorting objects by color, shape, size and use. Virgo is associated with temple virgins and rites of purification and, true to form, the bowerbird clears all debris from the forest floor surrounding their structures.

Rulers of the sixth house, Virgos are champions of acts of service, and no one goes harder in the realm of practical mating rituals than the bowerbird, which spends a year building his bower: a corridor of twigs that opens into a courtyard decorated with stones, bones, shells and other debris. The objects are arranged from smallest to largest, and post-construction the discerning female bowerbird casts her judgmental eye (a Virgo’s signature expression) toward the display, deeming her lover worthy or wanting.

Magpie

Ruled by Venus, the planet of aesthetics and attraction, Libra is the sign of partnership, and magpies, who mate for life, have long been associated with marriage and magic.

In Norse myth, the black and white markings of the magpie represent sexual union and the balance of masculine and feminine energies. Libras are big on social graces, and some superstitions maintain that failure to salute a magpie will bring bad luck to your door.

As cardinal air, Libras are highly adaptable and easily influenced, a quality found, according to Britannica, in magpies, which “have shown the ability to make and use tools, imitate human speech, grieve, play games, and work in teams. When one of their own dies, a grouping will form around the body for a ‘funeral’ of squawks and cries. To portion food to their young, magpies will use self-made utensils to cut meals into proper sizes.”

Keeping the food properly allotted, the team dynamics in full swing and the funeral a full-blown affair, the magpie is pure Libra.

Owl

Scorpio is associated with the underworld and cross-culturally, owls are considered harbingers of death.

In his thesis “On The Relationship between Birds and Spirits of the Dead,” Christopher Moreman writes, “The owl’s natural characteristics, its sudden pounce on its victims, its eerie cry, its preference for darkness, and the carrion smell of its nest made it the sinister messenger of the death goddesses.”

Heavy metal — absolutely Scorpionic.

Scorpio rules the eight house of sex, death, secrets and other people’s resources. Apropos of this, Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo with the aid of some criminal mischief, has been scaring the life out of New Yorkers with his wide-eyed peeping-tom routine.

Swallow

Ruled by luck-doling planet Jupiter, Sagittarius is the sign of risky business, defiant independence and far-flung adventure.

In kind, swallow tattoos have historically been used to log nautical miles and symbolize the spirits of the sea-faring. According to lore and the U.S. Naval Institute, the tradition of sailors tattooing these birds on their bodies began when the seven sailors who crewed aboard a ship called the Swallow each tattooed one on their chest as a tribute to their mutiny.

The swallow is still used to measure the travels of a sailor: one bird for every 5,000 nautical miles. Also: a swallow tattooed on a collarbone could carry a drowned man’s soul heavenward.

Sagittarius is the sign of indomitable hope and because the swallow was often the first bird a sailor/pirate would see when approaching land, they have come to symbolize renewal, return and homecoming.

Harpy eagle

A monochromatic apex predator that prefers large expanses of unobstructed forest, the Harpy eagle is pure Capricorn. Rulers of the 10th house of legacy and synonymous with steady ascent, strategic success and patiently playing the long game, sea goats are akin to the Harpy, which flies short distances to conserve energy and waits without pandering for prey to approach.

Andean condor

True to the complex nature of the water bearer that hinges on a deep need for solitude and an affinity for community, the Andean condor prefers to fly solo and makes its secretive nest upon a vertical cliff face but sleeps in a large cuddle puddle with its pals. As the airiest of air signs and the one that governs aeronautics, it tracks that Aquarius would find affinity in the floating condor, whose upward-pointing wing tips have inspired modern plane designs.

Superb bird-of-paradise

Pisces is ruled by Neptune planet of illusion: shifting shapes, altered states and liminal spaces. Apropos of this, the mating ritual of the superb bird-of-paradise is a truly transcendent experience that calls to mind space aliens, sleep demons and psychedelic smiley faces.

Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls’ guide” to strip clubs, and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.