Birds 5, in contrast to the preceding groupings which concerned themselves with tilings of a variety of tiles within a theme, here concerns itself with more specific matters, namely tessellations based upon a single tile, namely with a Greek cross (of which 'subdivided' examples is also included). Although very 'simple' in its outline, the Greek cross is still eminently suitable for a bird motif, as shown, albeit not one of the highest quality in an aesthetic sense – for example, the birds bill lacks "definition", as it has to be "assimilated" due to the tiles outline – contrast this with other examples, say, Birds 1. Even so, accepting the limitations of the outline, the bird motif is still pleasing and worthy of inclusion.

Although this tile may be thought of as a somewhat 'limited' nature, in actuality there is considerable scope for innovation, of which the examples below show a mere handful of the possibilities. Such potential is caused by the Greek cross possessing two types of symmetry, namely that of rotation and reflection. From this, different placements concerning the motif thus ensue, of which the examples below show a 'representative sample' of the possibilities without any pretence of showing a systematic analysis of 'all possibilities'.

No.1
Here the 'placement' of the motif is shown in the simplest way, of an identical orientation, namely as a translation. However, even within this there is variation, as two distinct views of the bird are shown, of 'belly' and 'back', shown alternatively in 'lines' of the same colour. Colouration Although two colours would have sufficed, for the sake of variety three are used. These are shown in 'sloping strips'.
No.2
No.3
No.4
No.5
No.6
No.7