Christians may be interested to read this.
JESUS MAKING BIRDS FROM CLAY
In Christianity the story of a five-year-old Jesus making birds from clay and bringing them to life appears in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, not in the canonical New Testament.
In that account: Jesus is described as playing by a stream on the Sabbath. He fashions twelve sparrows (or birds, depending on the translation) out of clay. When criticized for making these figures on the Sabbath, he claps his hands and tells the birds to fly away. The clay birds come to life and fly off.
Infancy Gospel of Thomas
2:1 "This child Jesus, when he was five years old, was playing at the ford of a stream. He gathered the flowing waters into pools and made them clear by his word."
2:2 "Then he made soft clay and fashioned from it twelve sparrows."
2:3 "It was the Sabbath when Jesus did these things. Many other children were playing with him."
2:4–5 "A certain Jew saw what Jesus was doing and reported it to Joseph, saying, 'Your child has taken clay and made twelve birds on the Sabbath.' Joseph came and rebuked him. But Jesus clapped his hands and said to the sparrows, 'Go!' And the sparrows flew away, chirping."
The early Church did not include the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the New Testament because it was:
Written significantly later than the apostolic period.
Not considered to have apostolic authorship.
Not widely accepted for public reading in churches.
Regarded by many early Christian leaders as lacking the authority of the four canonical Gospels.
There is a similar story about Jesus in Surah 3:49 and Surah 5:110 in the Quran:
Qur'an 3:49 partial (أَنِّي أَخْلُقُ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطِّينِ كَهَيْـَٔةِ ٱلطَّيْرِ فَأَنفُخُ فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيْرًۢا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ) translation (Sahih International): I design for you from clay like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allah . . .
Qur'an 5:110 partial وَإِذْ تَخْلُقُ مِنَ ٱلطِّينِ كَهَيْـَٔةِ ٱلطَّيْرِ بِإِذْنِى فَتَنفُخُ فِيهَا فَتَكُونُ طَيْرًۢا بِإِذْنِى ۖ translation (Sahih International): .. and when you designed from clay like the form of a bird with My permission, then you breathed into it, and it became a bird with My permission.."
