Who told you that? I'm not saying it isn't true, I just wonder, since there is such a huge difference in stories. Can baqualin or KC or any of the long-timers verify that? I'm sure the definitive answer is, as is mostly the case, "He started teaching it one day. He didn't tell us where it came from, and we didn't ask, so no one knows."
Whether he created them or not, it has southern elements. The truth might be in between, as is so often the case, like having made heavy modifications to forms seen or learned somewhere.
This is what on SD site says about it
"The bird styles of Shaolin were made famous at the Omei Temple. The original style, the Shaolin Bird, was a conglomerate system - the Tai Peng system – combining the natures of many birds into one system, blending balance and grace with powerful leg and hand techniques. Out of the Omei Temple evolved the famous White Crane system, with its rapid leg attacks, open finger techniques and the infighting of Wing Chun. From this same system came the legendary Eagle Claw system with its deadly hands and flying techniques. Over the centuries new styles with specific techniques were brought into the Omei system, styles such as the Black Crane, the Phoenix, the Swallow, and the Golden **** or Chicken." from
http://sdlouisville.com/brochure.htm
The only reference besides SD that I can find with the term "shaolin bird" is from a book by Villari, written in 1986, where he lists various animal styles from shaolin. The list is suspiciously similar to the one propagated by SD (with 10,000 bees and golden centipede, coming from various temples) So where did this info come from? What document or person provided this information originally, I wonder?
"Shaolin Bird style is one of the older fighting styles, being derived from the very old Lo Han style by way of the later China Hand style that seems to form the basis of much of the familiar Korean and Okinawan styles. (Many of the movements in Okinawan karate and such styles as Tang Soo Do closely resemble movements in China Hand and Shaolin Bird styles).
In Shaolin Bird style the hard, linear strikes and kicks of Lo-Han and China Hand first begin to acquire some of the circularity and fluidity that is characteristic of many later Chinese styles.
The strategic assumption is Shaolin Bird style is that the opponent is larger and stronger. The Bird stylist compensates by leaping in to deliver a flurry of strikes, and then leaping back out of range; or, again, by goading the opponent into a charge and sidestepping while striking. Bird style relies on quick transitions between low and high attacks and stances, sudden reversals of direction, long-range jumps to cover ground quickly, and well-developed stamina. Bird forms emphasize elbows and finger thrusts to soft targets."
http://www.urbin.net/EWW/MA/KEMPO/animals.html
What is the truth of the "shaolin bird"? Did Villari ever learn from Sin The, or hang out with him?