Certain birds enable people to comprehend the inexplicable because they embody contrasts and resolve oppositions, and some birds have particular attributes that make them especially adept at expressing these symbolic meanings. This analysis focuses on two bird families that are central to the social organization of many societies in the Americas for their relationship to both life and death, and considers how these birds are able to mediate cultural oppositions expressed through the myths, rituals, art, and architecture portrayed in both ancient and contemporary cultures. Having features associated with both life and death, hummingbirds and vultures embody a duality that enables them to fly symbolically higher into the heavens and lower into the underworld than many other birds. Ethnographic examples from Mexico, Costa Rica, and Peru are used to illustrate the ways these particular birds are seen as transforming life and death by leading to a more profound understanding of reality as an ongoing cycle of rebirth and renewal.

This paper addresses the relationship between scholarship and activism, considering the obligations that ethnobiologists have to the communities we work with. I begin by describing the cultural meaning of Andean condors (Vultur gryphus) in Peru through their connections to mountains and water in various forms, and the condor's role as guardian and protector. My research on condors led me to Indigenous beliefs and practices regarding sacred mountains and water, and from this to the threats against the environment posed by international mining operations. This discussion highlights questions concerning the scholar's role in situations of environmental destruction and political conflict in relation to structural violence, the mass media, and climate change. At a time when those who protect the land and water are endangered around the globe, the decisions we make while conducting research carry responsibilities for the consequences of our actions, even as these consequences ripple out beyond our specific locality and our original intentions.

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When people hear bird sounds, they understand them on various levels that are interpreted according to cultural context. Among Indigenous cultures of Latin America, avian voices are understood in relation to group identity, kinship affiliation, and personal experience, such as dreams and vision quests. Birds are recognized as social actors with their own voices that express intentions, desires, needs, and responsibilities. Certain birds may impart messages to specific people, and stories of these personal interactions represent both traditional values as well as individual explanations for what the bird communicated. These experiences are incorporated into the dynamic relationships people have with birds, the ancestors, the landscape, and spirit beings, and assist in addressing both cultural and climatic changes. This essay presents stories from Mexico, Costa Rica, and Peru, and shows how individuals interpret bird communications according to cultural values that relate to their personal situation. These avian messages gain new meaning and urgency during periods of dramatic change, like the current climate crisis. As people seek creative responses to survive, relationships with birds provide resiliency.