On Hearing A Butcherbird Poem by Francis Duggan

This morning early on a blackwood tree on the roadside the gray butcherbird piped his song
His bubbling notes can't be mistaken he is one you cannot get wrong
He is such a beautiful songster he pipes to proclaim his territory
Other male birds of his kind stay clear of his borders since there's none more aggressive than he.

The butcherbird sings on the roadside his notes in his own kind instil fear
He will fight to defend his borders in his song the message is clear
In my acre you are not welcome with aggression my patch I'll defend
The butcherbird so territorial his own kind not even his friend.

He has even been known to attack humans if to his nest they venture too near
Of birds attacks in Spring and in Summer one could say we regularly hear
Butcherbirds and Australian Magpies are known for such behaviour though injuries inflicted by them not severe
The notes they pipe not notes of welcome in the Spring and Summer of the year.

A butcherbird sings by the roadway on a high branch of a blackwood tree
He sings a warning to his own kind as well as a warning to me
So I better not to venture too near of his kind I already know
A male gray butcherbird brought blood to me at Bimbimbie a decade ago.


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