A bird got in our house one time when I was a kid and from her reaction, I thought it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy before we finally caught it and put it back outside. She was really scared. My ancestors came from the Appalachians back in the 1800's and they were a very superstitious lot. They put a lot of faith in signs, fortune tellers and the like.

said the same thing.

someone will die

I don't think it is either - fate or something.

It's a code requirement where I live.

New houses here aren't even allowed to have fireplaces.

According to Appalachian folklore, "A swaller flyin' down yer chimbley means it's time to move the outhouse and dig a new hole."
Better get the shovel out.

We have a cocktiel, a pet House Sparrow, and a pet Pigeon. We've had nothing but good fortune.
The sparrow is a really fun bird if you get them as a baby, they make great pets and they are very intelligent birds.

Wild birds that fly in, are bad luck. Pets are okay.

Now, shells. Anything from the sea in the house was considered bad luck according to my mom.

When I was about 7-8 yo, a big ass raven hit our front picture window and came right through it, glass every where, needless to say, the raven didn't survive the encounter with the window, now that's bad luck.

I've paid close attention to see if there was any correlation and I've seen it go up to within 3 months.

I stopped paying attention to it when I set up a bird feeder.

I like that.