Abstract. Birds are an indispensable element of religious and mythological system and rituals, having various functions. In everyday life, rituals, beliefs, and clinical practice of the Karelians birds have been taken a special and very important place. The purpose of a scientific article: identification of mythological ideas about birds as the predictors and carriers in Karelian folk medicine. The objectives of this study are, first, identification and comparison of beliefs and rituals associated with the function of birds in the light of all Karelian and local traditions. Secondly, the objective of the article is identification of folk names of diseases, associated with birds, comparison of collected lexemes in the dialects of Karelian language (Karelian, Livvi-Karelian, Ludic Karelian) and with closely related languages, as well as the determination of the origin of the collected lexemes. The material presented in the article is relevant, because the images of birds in the mythological representations of the Karelians, related with Karelian folk medicine, are studied for the first time. As a result of the study we can notice that in the avifauna of the Karelians the "negative" group of birds is distinguished. This group of birds with their noise, defecations and peculiarities of their behavior are able «to predict» or «to send» diseases on humans. The similarity of diseases’ symptoms with the appearance of birds is important in the nomination. It says about a constant close contact of humans with the world of fauna. We can see both similarities and differences in the species composition of birds – carriers of diseases between two large groups of the Karelians living in Karelia and outside.

Key words: folk medicine, traditions of the Karelians, names of diseases, healing magic, beliefs of the Karelians, fauna, spells, Baltic-Finnish languages.