Bird
Birds stand for news and freedom. One singing brightly or flying into your arms means welcome news and a valuable connection, and catching a bird by hand is read as getting the result you waited for. A bird entering the house has long been read as good news arriving. A caged bird, by contrast, mirrors a situation that feels stifling, and one flying off reflects a missed chance or someone leaving.
A bird can leave the ground whenever it likes, which nothing else in the yard can do. Traditional reading treated a bird as something that brings word from far away, and separated the meanings by which bird appeared and how. Old readings also treated a bird settling on a person as a sign of a child on the way.
Readings by Situation
A bird flying into your arms
A good sign that a valuable connection is arriving. Tradition also read a bird settling against you as a conception dream. Whether it is one, though, is better judged by the dreamer’s circumstances than by the dream.
A bird singing brightly
A sign that welcome news is coming. Several birds calling together was read as good words passing among people. If you are waiting to hear something, this reads well.
A bird flying away
All that is left in your hand is a feather. A bird is not something you keep; its coming and going have their own season, so the old reading says the next one lands only after you let this one go.
An injured or dead bird
This points to news you were expecting being delayed. Tradition read it as a time when your energy has flagged. Rather than something to fear, take it as a sign to lighten an overloaded schedule.
Bird dreams are broadly favourable where news is concerned. Still, do not settle the question of a conception dream on the dream alone. A bird flying off does not mean you actually lose anything.