Mangbetu dagger

[Matt Splatt]

Hi everyone, I finally got one of these iconic Mangbetu daggers. I think it's a nice one, just missing one section of cooper wrap at the top of the hilt. One question immediately came to mind when it arrived. Is the zoomorphism intentional? Err... or in plain english, is it supposed to look like a bird? I've read about other african weapons that represent animals but haven't found anything about these. I would appreciate you thoughts.