Bird Variations Poem by David Pass

Masters of the air and also of the sea.
Soaring high above or perching in a tree.
Some go no further than one small patch of land,
Others cross the oceans or barren desert sand.

Robin males fight others for their private space.
Starlings flock together and move from place to place.
Emperor penguins dive a third of a mile deep.
Ostriches run fast with a 16 foot long leap. (30 mph)
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The fastest bird is a peregrine falcon.
240 mph in a steep dive.
It catches grouse when hidden by the sun,
In an instant they’re no longer alive.

The teal takes off with one flap of its wings.
The swan has to run before it can fly.
The crow just caws but the nightingale sings.
Some birds seem quite tame but others are shy.

The gannet dives deep with wings swept right back
And it nests on islands like the Bass Rock.
The song thrush eats snails, there is quite a knack.
The peahen is plain but not the peacock.

The owl flies by night with silent wing-beats.
The swift stays aloft except for its chick.
The vulture finds thermals as the land heats.
The macaw eats leaves but needs kaolin quick. (counteract poison)

The avocet filters with its upturned beak
With which it finds insects, beetles and shrimps.
A downturned one helps the curlew to seek
Lugworms by touch though its eyes can’t them glimpse.

The dodo has gone and the moa went too.
Man or his animals the reason they died.
Some endangered birds we raise in a zoo.
When we try to find them many birds hide.