Sam Fried Sam FriedSam Fried has seen and photographed almost all North American birds. Meet Sam Previous Answers

It is definitely true that a great many birds are indicators of other events in the natural world, and that people have learned to pay attention to what the birds are doing so that they may benefit, too. Anglers know that a swarm of gulls or terns feeding on a school of small fish usually means much larger fish — a kind of fish the angler is after — has driven that school to the surface of the ocean, and is feeding below while the birds are feeding from above. Watching the gulls and terns, then, is an effective way to look for hungry fish. When I see the first robin of the new year in my yard, I know that spring isn't far off, since robins are among the very first migrants to return to their nesting grounds.

But I make a big distinction between birds as indicators of other natural events, and birds as signs of good or bad things about to happen to people. Is a raven or a crow really an omen of death or bad luck? I hope not; there's a family of crows nesting across the street, and the parents spend a lot of time hanging out in the big poplar in my yard. It's not unusual for me to come home and see them watching me, perched on a limb that hangs over the roof of my house — the perfect spot from which to dispense bad tidings to the human family below. They're noisy and assertive and alert, and I yell up to them and they peer down at me, blinking, and I generally feel lucky to have them as a regular part of my day.

In the end, whether a bird is or is not an omen really depends on the person, not the bird. The wood storks of the Netherlands became omens of good fortune and fertility when they chose the chimney of a particular house for their nest — and gave rise to the legend of the stork delivering new babies to lucky and deserving parents. In my view, the birds were just looking for a decent place to nest.