The quick-and-dirty: Olivier Messiaen was an avid birder. He would go out into the field, transcribe birdsong into musical notation, and then use these in (or as) his compositions (here and here). For Messiaen, nature - and particularly birds, given their place in Medieval historical theology - led to God; add that to music, and he was pretty sure you'd end up with something truly spiritual.
Also: based on these videos (did anyone else know these existed?!), I think I'd like him to be my grandfather.
(thanks, youtube)
(Don't believe this music sounds like birds? Fine, I'll give you spectrograms.)
(Oooh, and check out this article by Robert Fallon on Messiaen's methods of imitation. Pg 115 will start you out.)
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