The dynamic sculpture Running Bird underlines Bernard Meadows' preoccupation with birds as a means to communicate his thoughts about humans. The bird theme was particularly prevalent in his work during the nineteen fifties. The artist explained this fascination:"birds can express a whole range of tragic emotion, they have a vulnerability which makes it easy to use them as vehicles for people."

"I look upon birds and crabs as human substitutes, they are vehicles, expressing my feelings about human beings. To use non-human figures is for me at the present time is less inhibiting; one is less concious of what has gone before and is more free to take liberties with the form and to make direct statements than with the human figure: nevertheless they essentially human..."

(Bernard Meadows in Alan Bowness, Bernard Meadows. Sculpture and Drawings, The Henry Moore Foundation in asociation with Lund Humphries Publishers, London, 1995, pp.14-15)