Ornithomancy

Ornithomancy is divination by observing birds: their flight, direction, number, calls or the way they feed. It was highly developed in ancient Greece and above all in Rome, where it made up the core of the augurs’ science. The quarter of the sky in which the birds appeared and the species observed, eagle, raven or vulture, guided the interpretation. The words “auspice” and “inauguration” still bear the trace of these practices, which preceded every important public act.