About the Bird

If you follow Jon Young with his work through 8 Shields and his book, What The Robin Knows, you’ll appreciate that the icon for all of WildNature is a tiny, but mighty bird, who can fly 300 miles in a single day, and migrates 2600 miles annually from the continental U.S. to Alaska. What heart.

Sparrows are small in size and extremely protective, especially as a clan. They are constantly busy, building nests, foraging for food and protecting their young with vigilance, and they serve as a reminder that community enables survival, and that busy hands and minds promote a happy and full life.

In Biblical times, a lone sparrow represented deep loneliness and sorrow, as sparrows are known to travel in clans. We are our relationships. Get close, be vulnerable, be yourself with others, and you are rewarded with ‘clan protection’, and that rare thing: “belonging”.

The tiny sparrow is a reminder that good things come in small packages, and the loudest voice is not always the most powerful.

Sparrow tattoos are popular symbols of protection among sailors of yore, who would tattoo a single sparrow on the right side of their chests prior to embarking on a journey, and then tattoo a second sparrow on the left side of their chests upon a safe return.

In Russia and England, prisoners are known to tattoo the sparrow on their wrists on the day of their release to serve as a reminder to stay on the right course.

So friends, when the seas are storm-tossed and chaotic, remember me, a small but mighty sparrow: Stay in your heart, get with your peeps, remember to love this life’s moment, and fly high!