amo, amare, amavi

(I'll be using the long-debated word "shaman" here as an all-encompassing word for individuals who engage in trances to communicate with the spirit world, as much as I despise its use in traditional academia)

We see he's fully equipped with the kam's "toolbox" (as our anthropology professor liked to call it): the headgear with feathers (to symbolize his connection to the bird) and the detail that looks like a human face (probably to help with the human-animal transition), the protective necklace, and the drums (rhythm is important for entering and maintaining the trance). It is a misconception to say that "shamans" were like priests or "medicine men", because their role was to act as intermediaries between the human world and the spiritual world whenever there existed an imbalance. In Daiyr's case, he needed guidance for his tribe in the dispute with Genghis Khan.

When I say that the bird spiritual leitmotif is interesting is that it is almost everywhere and at anytime. For example, the only human depicted in the Lascaux cave has a strangely bird-shaped head, and right near him there is a bird. And from the picture we can say the man was killed by the bison (who also seems to be injured), so this state of being "half-bird" signifies the man's journey to the afterlife. Or that's just one way to interpret it (that's the fun with cave art and everything prehistory-related)

But we know bird leitmotif is way serious because it is common in a lot of cultures. Anthropologists call it a "universal archetype", and one very very interesting and almost literal instance where we see the human-bird transformation is through the "transformation masks" found in the North American Northwest Coast. These masks are animal (bird most of the time!) on the outside and human on the inside, showing a real transformation taking place.

Many Siberian and Central Asian tribes believe their first "shaman" was nursed or taught by a mythical bird of prey, so it makes sense in Jaadugar's context for Daiyr's powers during trance to be those of a bird. But what's interesting is that Daiyr's bird can take multiple forms. First, we see him as some sort of bird of prey made of fire.

But when he talks about the rivers, we see that his bird looks somewhat...geese-like?

I'm not sure what bird exactly this is, but my guess is that it's a Siberian crane.

My only clue as of why there are two separate birds is that it could symbolize the voyage Daiyr took: he needed a sturdy prey bird for the wide steppe and a crane to follow the rivers.