Ornithomancy

Etruscan wall painting from Tomba degli Auguri (c. 530 BC) showing two augurs

Ornithomancy (modern term from Greek ornis "bird" and manteia "divination"; in Ancient Greek: οἰωνίζομαι "take omens from the flight and cries of birds") is the practice of reading omens from the actions of birds followed in many ancient cultures including the Greeks, and is equivalent to the augury employed by the ancient Romans.

Ornithomancy in some form has been found globally among a wide variety of pre-industrial peoples.[1]

  1. ^ A. Mouton, Luwian Identities (2013) p. 329-30