Avian humanoids (people with the characteristics of birds) are a common motif in folklore and popular fiction, mainly found in Greek, Roman, Manipuri, Hindu, Persian mythology, etc.
Vishnu riding GarudaA winged human-headed Apkallu holding a bucket and a pine cone. From Nimrud, Iraq. 883-859 BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul
Anzû from Mesopotamian mythology, either a lesser divinity or a monster
Arke, Iris' sister who also had wings,[1] said to be iridescent
Ba, the part of a human's soul that roughly represents its personality, depicted as a bird with a human head[2]
Calais and Zetes, sons of the North Wind Boreas[3]
Chareng-Aka Uchek Langmeidong, it is a mythical creature, from Manipuri mythology in the form a semi human and semi hornbill, with an avian body and a human head.
The Ekek in Philippine mythology is depicted as a humanoid with bird wings and a beak
Geryon, a giant defeated by Hercules who, in one account, was described as having wings[10][11] and some mid-sixth-century Chalcidian vases portray him as winged
Harpies, bird-women associated with storm winds known for terrorizing mortals[12][13]
The gods Horus and Thoth from ancient Egyptian mythology were often depicted as humans with the heads of a falcon[14] and an ibis,[15] respectively.
Huitzilopochtli, "hummingbird's south" or "hummingbird's left"; Aztec god of the sun and war who was often depicted as either a hummingbird or an eagle
Iris (mythology) was said to have golden wings[16][17] with "golden-winged" as one of her epithets and was often depicted in art as having wings[18]
Isis and her sister Nephthys were ancient Egyptian goddesses commonly depicted with kite (bird) heads or wings attached to their arms[19][20]
The Kinnara and Kinnari in southeast Asia are two of the most beloved mythological characters, who are benevolent half-human, half-bird creatures
Sirin, Russian take on the siren that's closer to their original depiction as birds
The swan maidens in the folktales of cultures such as Sweden, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Japan, and Pakistan[32]
Tangata manu of Easter Island,[33] often depicted as a frigate bird/human hybrid
The Tengu of Japanese folklore, monstrous forest and mountain dwelling humanoids often possessing the wings, claws, and sometimes the beak of a bird.[34]
"Uchek Langmeidong"-In Kanglei mythology, it is a mythical creature, semi human, semi hornbill, with an avian body and a human head. The bird is a form of a hornbill bird.
Wayland the Smith from Germanic mythology; scholars differ on whether they think he organically grew wings to escape imprisonment or fashioned artificial ones like Daedalus
Winged genie, recurring motif in Assyrian art; they're bearded men with birds' wings
Fiction
The Chozo civilization, a highly intelligent and technologically advanced bird-like species in the Metroid series.[36]
The winged people of Normnbdsgrsutt in Robert Paltock's utopian fantasy Peter Wilkins (1750), including Youwarkee, whom Peter marries.[37]
The Flock from James Patterson's Maximum Ride novel series.
The bird people of Brontitall, led by The Wise Old Bird, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are depicted by Douglas Adams as evolving from humans who are so sick of buying shoes that they become bird-like creatures and never set foot on the ground again (see Shoe Event Horizon).
The race of garuda in fantasy author China Miéville's world Bas-Lag as featured in Perdido Street Station.[38]
In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, a race of magical creatures called Veela appear as extraordinarily beautiful women, but turn into frightening bird-like creatures when angered.
Vergere in The New Jedi Order book series in the Star Wars expanded universe is of the Fosh species, capable of producing tears that can be used as poison or healing.
The Shi'ar from Marvel Comics, a species of cold-blooded humanoids of avian descent; they resemble humans with feathered crests atop their heads in lieu of hair.
The Illyrians from A Court of Thorns And Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. They are a warrior race of faeries living in the mountains. Illyrians have wings similar to bat wings.
Birdperson, a character from the television series Rick and Morty, is a tall humanoid with two giant eagle wings. He is later renamed "Phoenixperson."
Prince Vultan's hawkmen from the 1980 space opera film Flash Gordon.
Turians from the Mass Effect series, a warrior race with avian features.[39]
Arakkoas from the World of Warcraft expansions (first appearing in WoW: Burning Crusade), a bird humannoid race with avian features.
Papi, a harpy from the manga series Monster Musume.
↑Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Book 6 (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon 190) (trans. Pearse)
↑Allen, James W. (2000). Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-77483-3.
↑Routledge, Scoresby, Mrs; Routledge, Katherine (1917). "The Bird Cult of Easter Island". Folklore28 (4): 337-355. "An "iviatua," a divinely-gifted individual, dreamed that a certain man was favoured by the gods, so that if he entered for the race he would be a winner, or, in technical parlance, become a bird-man or " tangata manu"; it was also ordained that he should then take a new name, which formed part of the revelation, and this bird-name was given to the year in which victory was achieved, thus forming an easily remembered system of chronology.".
↑de Visser, M. W. (1908). "The Tengu". Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan36 (2): 25–99.