One of our rock art owls with a real owl at the WIZARDS AND WINGS show on July 20, 2007 in Anchorage, Alaska.   Sponsors: The Imaginarium and the Bird Treatment and Learning Center. (click logos for links)

Imaginarium Bird TLC

. Rock Art Birds:  Archaeology  +  Biology  + Art

If you know of good bird rock art sites (pictographs or petroglyphs), and are willing to share the locations, please let us know.  We want to photograph as many as we can find.  We have been looking at rock art sites for more than thirty years, and are respectful of them.  We will not publish locations of sites unless they are already in the public awareness through books, national park maps, and the like.  Also, if you know anything interesting about bird lore, local stories, good books, or anything else that will help us in our quest, please contact us by e-mail.  Thank you. mailto:BirdRockArt@gmail.com

There is no scale implied in these thumbnail pictures.  Some of the figures are more than three feet tall, others only a few inches.	All of these sites, so far, are in Utah.  The names given are those commonly used in tourist, NPS, BLM, and other common and public information.
	Kane Creek Canyon A large owl pecked on a canyon wall next to a full sized anthropomorphic figure and sheep.
	Kane Creek Canyon Some say this is a vulture and it appears beneath the large, probably great horned owl depicted above.
	Kane Creek Canyon Seems like a "baby bird" and is attached to the leg of the large anthropomorphic figure on the  panel.  Perhaps another vulture....or owl?
	Rochester Creek   The owl to the left of the rainbow on this well-known panel.  There are at least four other whole bodies or faces that have the same eyes and wispy "horns" as this owl, and may themselves be owls.  Also, on a separate rock face (unpatinated) to the left is a large, incised figure with outstretched wings, large eyes, and a round, shield-like body.  This, too, may be an owl.  There are a number of "fertility" related images on the main panel; in some myths, owls are associated with fertility.
	Rochester Creek A pair of flying birds viewed from below?
	Rochester Creek Bird tracks, a fairly common form.
	Nine Mile Canyon  The famous owl that the Utah Rock Art Research Association chose as its logo.  Many books and accounts describe this as a Fremont pictograph, but others suggest it is Ute  --at the bottom of the panel there appears to be a person riding a horse or burro (very indistinct).  Also some have made the case that the body outline and the breast spots were probably created by a metal railroad spike (with measurements of line width and spike width).
	Nine Mile Canyon Another owl that appears below and to the right of the main owl depicted above.  The wings appear to be pecked in a similar style to the large owl.
	Nine Mile Canyon Another and smaller owl to the left of the panel of the main owl depicted above.  This one seems to be less distinct with the wings, especially the left wing, lacking in the detail of the two owls shown above.
	Buckhorn Draw (Buckhorn Wash) One bird flying up and one flying down between the large, Barrier Style anthropomorphs on this striking panel.
	Head  of Sinbad A bird flying from the left toward the head of the anthropomorph.  Other circles with associated curving lines have been interpreted by some as "cross sections" of flying birds.  Birds with anthropomorphs are often interpreted as spirit helpers for possible shamanistic activities.
	Wolfman Panel (Butler Wash near Bluff, Utah) This wonderful site includes these well-defined birds and many other anthropomorphs and a possible set of owl eyes....
	Shay Canyon  A long necked, wading bird, perhaps a sandhill crane?
	Shay Canyon A bird with a truly long, long neck, maybe reaching to the sky.  Also, several birds flying upward that resemble penguins (this shape illustrating flight we've seen in several panels).
	Sand Island (near Bluff)  This bird is high on the cliff face.  Its head is either obliterated, naturally or not, or there is some significance to its enormous ventral size.  Its feet are certainly bird feet.
	near Bluff  This bird (and possibly babies) is on the side of a large talus boulder along the highway.  Dennis Slifer (Guide to Rock Art of the Utah Region: Sites with Public Access) says this is late Basketmaker-Early Pueblo (dated at approximately A.D. 700-900).  Perhaps a quail or some other ground bird with a large body, smallish head, walking to the right.
	near Bluff This interesting bird is on another large talus boulder located close to the one mentioned above.  We call this "egg bird" because it seems to have one large egg depicted within its body.