What is an example of motif in the novel, Other Birds?

Birds are a recurring motif throughout the novel, and they are used primarily to symbolize freedom, departure, and even the transmigration of the human spirit. Zoey’s mother, Paloma, assumes the form of a bird as she stays with Zoey through her childhood and watches her grow up. Frasier marvels at the dellawisps, whom he views as individualistic and free. Bird imagery is also applied to the characters at the Dellawisp (whom Frasier calls “other birds”), whose various arcs involve the unburdening of grief, a kind of flight and lightness associated with a bird’s act of flying.