Bird Idioms and Phrase

(as) free as (the) air

Meaning:

Happy and untroubled

Examples:

I miss the days of being free as the air, back before I had adult problems, like bills to pay.

(as) free as a bird

Meaning:

Unencumbered; not restrained by anything. The phrase means the same as “free,” but with more emphasis

Examples:

Betty must be free as a bird because I never see her in a bad mood.

(feathered) oof-bird

Meaning:

obsolete Something that is a source of money, usually in large quantities.

Examples:

You better come up with a reliable way to earn money, instead hoping for some oof-bird to fall in your lap.

(not) a dicky bird

Meaning:

(Not) anything at all. 

Examples:

We heard not a dicky-bird out of the kids all night – they were quiet as can be.

(Someone’s) Goose Is Cooked

Meaning:

In serious trouble, with no hope of improvement

Examples:

After losing two sets to the invincible Djokovic, the tennis player’s goose was cooked.

a bird in hand

Meaning:

Something of some value that is already acquired

Examples:

I think I’ll keep my modest winnings rather than wagering them all on the next horse race. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

a bird of passage

Meaning:

A person who remains unfixed to a certain location, relocating from one place to another.

Examples:

The economy has forced me to become a bird of passage, moving around the state to wherever I can find work.

a bird’s eye shot

Meaning:

A scene photographed or filmed from an angle above the subject.

Examples:

Stand on the roof of that building and get a bird’s eye shot of our lead actress walking down the street.

a bird’s eye view

Meaning:

A view looking down at an object or area from a high elevation (as if from the perspective of a bird in flight).

Examples:

From up here you can get a bird’s eye view of the entire campus.

a box of bird

Meaning:

In good spirits or health. Used in the phrase “be a box of birds.”

Examples:

Molly seems like a box of birds today—she must be over the flu.

100+ Bird Idioms and Phrase