• 1- Vulture
• 2- Owl
• 3- Crow
• 4- Cock
• 5- Peacock

These birds engage in any one of the following five activities at any given time:

• 1- Rule
• 2- Eat
• 3- Walk
• 4- Sleep
• 5- Die
  

The birds are considered most powerful when they rule and least powerful when they die.

To find out your Birth Pakshi (Nakshatra Pakshi) you have to know your birth star according to Vedic Astrology and the Paksha of the Moon at the time of your birth. The half of the Lunar Cycle when the Moon increases in size and reaches the Full Moon (Pournami) is called Sukla-Paksha and the other half of the cycle when the size decreases until the New Moon is called the Krishna-Paksha. Birth Stars are based on the longitude of Moon and are 27 in number from Aswini to Revati. Once you know the Birth Star (Nakshatra) and the Paksha you can find your Nakshatra Pakshi (Bird) from the following chart.

The five birds rule certain days of the week and the days when your bird rules are considered good for you. Also, the days on which your bird is least powerful (death days) will be least useful for you. It is best not to undertake important tasks or take decisions on such days. The ruling days and death days also depend on the Paksha of the day you are considering for an activity. While death days of a bird are same for day as well as night, the ruling days are different for day and night.

The chart showing the ruling and death days are given below:

During Sukla-Paksa

During Krishna-Paksa

Each day of 12 hours is divided into five equal portions and given to different activities of the birds. Within each portion, the time is further allocated to other birds called apahara birds and their activities. The duty cycles follow complex and intricate logic of Pancha-Pakshi Shastra. One can select the best suitable time during a day or night using detailed charts based on Pancha-Paskshi Shastra. Astro-Vision will soon bring these to you through our website for the benefit of all our members.

The Pancha-Pakshi Shastra is not to be confused with 'Pakshi Shastra' practiced by nomads in India where they use a parrot to pick a card from a deck to predict the future.