File:NARC-7B5E68, scandinavian bird brooch front (FindID 514356).jpg

English: A cast copper alloy brooch in the form of a bird. The bird is facing left, and has a rounded head, but the beak is missing. The body is a long oval shape in plan, ending in a rectangular tail. The feet are worn and an inverted V shape. The feathers and wings are suggested by deep incised lines on the body. The reverse is slightly concave with no obvious sign of a inge attachment or cachplate, although a diagonal scar across the central area may be what remains of a pin or loop. There is evidence of silvering on the reverse.

The feet may be incomplete, as other examples have a drilled hole between the feet to aid with the attatching to a garment.

The brooch is similar to a form of brooch originalting in Scandinavia, known as a cross-on-bird type. This example is unusual in that there is no cross. The bird is probably a dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit)

A gilded-silver parallel can be found on the PAS database at SUSS-44F203, and a plain silver one at KENT-9F6987. Cross-on-bird brooches made from copper-alloy are recorded on the PAS database at SF-7B3CA5, BERK-5DED86 and SF-BCC403. Cross-on-bird brooches are a relatively uncommon type, with finds recorded by Pedersen (1999) from Denmark (fig. 11b), England (fig. 19c), Germany (figs. 20 and 22) and France (fig. 21). Their date-range is thought to be 800-1100 (Pedersen 1999, 64). Also see A. Gannon (2003) The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coins, pp. 114-5, where it is argued that one of these brooches (from Berinsfield) carries a fledgling rather than a cross on its back.

Dr. Kevin Leahy states that: (although there is no direct parallel for the brooch) "this brooch is best placed amongst a group of eleventh century bird brooches which are found both here and in Scandinavia". Similar can be seen on this database at SF-3E99F3; BERK-5DED86; NLM-4341, NMS-E7F720 and NLM5638.