The following quotes are written on the back of this painting. It was commissioned as a wedding gift for a Norwegian-Chinese wedding. Though inspired mostly by cranes and geese, keep in mind that this bird is not inspired by any one type of bird, but can change its form.

1) A crane calling in the shade.
Its young answers it.
I have a good goblet.
I will share it with you.

This refers to the involuntary influence of a man's inner being upon persons of kindred spirit. The crane need not show itself on a high hill. It may be quite hidden when it sounds its call; yet its young will hear its note, will recognize it and give answer. Where there is a joyous mood, there a comrade wil appear to share a glass of wine.
-- I Ching [Wilhelm/Baynes]

The next two quotes follow on this as I find them to be "kindred spirits," even though the products of two vastly different cultures.

2) But it was not easy to make Eirik understand the nature of anything. The boy seemed to have no grasp at all--he made no difference between living and dead things, asked whether the big rock on the beach was fond of gulls and why the snow wanted to lie on the ground. He could not make out that the sun that glimmered through the fog was the same as shone in the sky on a clear day, and once he had seen a moon that was quite unlike all other moons.
-- Sigrid Undset [Arthur G. Chater]

3) And he often cries or laughs when no one else is by. They say that when he sees a swallow he talks to the swallow, and when he sees a fish in the river he talks to the fish, and when he sees the stars or the moon, he sighs and groans and mutters away to himself like a crazy thing.
-- Cao Xueqin [David Hawkes]

4) The crane is one of the many symbols of longevity.
-- A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols [Eberhard/Campbell]

5) But you are soon to be our kinsman by marriage--I may well speak of it to you.
-- Sigrid Undset [Arthur G. Chater]

6) The 'Boy of the White Crane' is a kind of demiurge, an attendant of the gods who lives in the palace of 'jade emptiness' in the cosmic mountains of Kun-lun. . . .His doings are recorded above all in the Feng-shen yan-yi ('The Metamorphoses of the Gods').
-- A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols [Eberhard/Campbell]

7) . . .the gradual flight of the wild goose. The wild goose is a symbol of conjugal fidelity, because it is believed that the bird never takes another mate. . .
-- I Ching [Wilhelm/Baynes]

8) Shou-xing is a stellar god. His opposite counter part is the Immortal of the North Pole, who is also known as the 'God of the Northern Dipper.'
-- A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols [Eberhard/Campbell]

9) It is said of the wild goose that it calls to its comrades whenever it finds food; this is the symbol of peace and concord in good fortune. A man does not want to keep his luck for himself only, but is ready to share it with others.
-- I Ching [Wilhelm/Baynes]

10) The goose is in China a symbol of married bliss. So a goose makes a very suitable engagement present. This is a very old custom, varied on occasion by an exchange -- the bridegroom's family sends a gander, the bride's family reciprocates by sending back a goose. Neither of these ever end up on the table.
-- A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols [Eberhard/Campbell]

11) The path rises high toward heaven, like the flight of wild geese when they have left the earth far behind. There they fly. . . . And if their feathers fall, they can serve as ornaments in the sacred dance pantomimes performed in the temples.
-- I Ching [Wilhelm/Baynes]

12) Wild geese are represented as flying in pairs, and so a picture of wild geese makes a good wedding present.
-- A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols [Eberhard/Campbell]

13) . . .it stood out black against the starry sky. . . .but there was a faint light on the edge of the crags that closed the view toward the fiord, like moonlight on ice.
-- Sigrid Undset [Arthur G. Chater]

14) Nightingale nodded. 'It looks as if Miss Lin's still asleep,' said Snowgoose.
-- Cao Xueqin [David Hawkes]