The mythology of the bluebird of happiness has deep roots that go back thousands of years. Indigenous cultures across the globe hold similar myths and beliefs about the bluebird. It is a widely accepted symbol of cheerfulness, happiness, prosperity, hearth and home, good health, new births, the renewal of springtime, etc. Virtually any positive sentiments may be attached to the bluebird.
In magical symbolism, bluebirds are used to represent confidence in the positive aspect and egotism in the negative. A dead bluebird is a symbol of disillusionment, of the loss of innocence, and of transformation from the younger and naive to the older and wiser.
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In American symbolism, "bluebird" refers to true thrushes (Turdidae) of the genus Sialia, in particular the Mountain Bluebird (S. currucoides) which is almost completely bright blue.
Many Native American tribes considered the bluebird sacred.
According to the Cochiti tribe, the firstborn son of Sun was named Bluebird. In the tale "The Sun's Children" from Tales of the Cochiti Indians (1932) by Ruth Benedict: "She nursed him until the Sun father came back. Sun returned to the girl, and the girl offered the child to him, saying, 'Here is your baby. It is a little boy.' They named him Bluebird (Culutiwa)."
The Navajo hold the Mountain Bluebird to be a great spirit in animal form and associate it with the rising sun. The Bluebird Song is sung to remind tribe members to wake at dawn and rise to greet the sun:
The Bluebird Song is still used in social settings and is also performed in the nine-day Ye'iibicheii winter Nightway ceremony. It is the most revered song, as well as the closing act, performed just before sunrise on the final day.
A popular song titled "Bluebird of Happiness" was written by Sandor Harmati and Edward Heyman in 1934. It was recorded twice by Jan Peerce, becoming his "signature tune". It was also recorded by Art Mooney and His Orchestra, and others.
The bluebird of happiness is also mentioned in the film K-Pax, as all the patients in the ward await the arrival of the blue bird.
The song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" from the "Wizard of Oz" refers to the bluebird of happiness as well.
In the film Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird the Sleaze Brothers kidnap Big Bird and put him in their fun fair. They paint him blue and bill him as the Blue Bird of Happiness. However, Big Bird's act has him singing a contradictory sad song, "No Wonder I'm So Blue."
The Disney film "The Rescuers" has a scene in which the bluebird is a symbol of faith, "Faith is a bluebird you see from afar..."
In the They Might Be Giants song Birdhouse in Your Soul, John Linnell's lyrics play around with the concept in the phrase "Blue bird of friendliness."
The bluebird is mentioned at the end of the 1968 Beatles movie, Yellow Submarine with the Blue Meanie leader saying, "You know I've never admitted it before, but my cousin is the bluebird of happiness".
The European "bluebird" is probably a reference to the Blue Rock-Thrush (Monticola solitarius), a chat (thrush-like Old World flycatcher) which occurs from the Mediterranean region eastwards. Its adult male is the only European passerine bird with all-blue plumage. In general, there are very few small birds in the western Palaearctic that have any conspicuous amount of blue in their plumage. The widespread Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) and the Azure Tit (Cyanistes cyanus) from Russia and adjacent regions are notable exceptions.[1]
Bluebird mythology in Europe is noted in a fairy tale called L'Oiseau Bleu (The Blue Bird) by Madame d'Aulnoy (1650–1705). This seems to be the root source of most modern accounts of bluebird symbolism and myth. In this tale, King Charming is transformed into a bluebird, who is the love interest of the younger princess Fiordelisa and aids her through her trials.
The Blue Bird was made into a 1908 stage play by Maurice Maeterlinck and into several films throughout the 20th century, including the 1940 original starring Shirley Temple, Gale Sondergaard, Spring Byington and Nigel Bruce. The story begins with two child heroes, Tyltyl and Mytyl, whom are sent out by the fairy Bérylune (Jessie Ralph) into various lands to search for the Bluebird of Happiness. Returning home empty-handed, the children see that the bird has been in a cage in their home the whole time. When Myltyl gives the bird as a present to a sick neighbor (Angela), the bird flies away. But the moral is that the search for happiness is ongoing, and it is to be found within oneself.
In Russian fairy tales, the bluebird is a traditional symbol of hope. In more recent times, Anton Denikin characterized the Ice March of the defeated Volunteer Army in the Russian Civil War as follows:
We went from the dark night of spiritual slavery to unknown wandering-in search of the bluebird.[2]