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Why is the bird a widespread symbol in Oceanic art?

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dilly bag; Aboriginal Australian art, Northern Territory, Australia — Oceanic art and architecture An Aboriginal Australian decorating a tightly woven dilly bag with white, yellow, and ochre (red) paints, Northern Territory, Australia, 1948.

In Oceanic art, the bird is a widespread and significant symbol because of its deep integration into the mythology, spiritual life, and cultural observations of Pacific Island peoples.

Birds were frequently portrayed in art as carriers of omens and as powerful symbolic representations of the Sun. For example, the frigate bird was particularly revered by many Pacific cultures for these associations. The prevalence of bird imagery also stems from the natural environment, where birds served as vital cultural resources and subjects of observation long before the formal study of ornithology.1

The symbolic use of birds manifests in various artistic forms across the region:
* Easter Island: Bird-headed human figures are central to the cult of a bird-god, appearing in both small-scale wood carvings and as petroglyphs on rock surfaces.2
* Melanesia: In the Massim area, curvilinear design motifs were often stylized to represent birds. Similarly, in the Admiralty Islands, artisans crafted functional objects like bowls and ladles in the shape of birds.34
* Torres Strait: Bird imagery, such as the hawk, was incorporated into ceremonial masks used in religious rites and hero cults.5