From petomai (to fly). A bird, any winged creature that flies. Jesus used birds extensively in His teaching — as examples of God's provision and in the Parable of the Sower.
Jesus pointed to birds as proof of God's care: 'Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?' (Matthew 6:26). In the Parable of the Sower, birds ate the seed on the path — representing Satan snatching away the word. The same creatures that illustrate providence also illustrate spiritual attack.