Bird Poems

Piranga olivacea
Your field marks provide me with just the right clue
a brilliant red plumage my definitive cue.
Primary wing feathers and coverts of black
separated down your five inch back.
Through the deciduous forest to the oaks do you fly
while snagging bees and wasps in midair or raiding a hive.
Scarlet Tanager is your name as I fondly recall
listening to your warbling from trees big and tall.


Tyto alba
Serrated feathers rounding out the distant contours
heart shaped face, trimmed in chocolate brown,
facial feathers funneling sounds inward to offset asymmetrical ears
definitive head movements as new sounds are detected
speckled breast of brown and white protecting the heart
As a veracious nocturnal hunter your avian adaptations of acute photoreceptors, sharp talons, and hatchet like beak help you prey on unsuspecting innocent mice as your habitat continues to shrink diminishing potential meal opportunities

Ardea herodias
Waiting calmly along the shore of Slough Creek intentions of foraging for your food on your mind.
Each step with your palmate food carefully selected.
Streaked foreneck out stretched in anticipation.
Vibrating ossicles keyed into distant sounds.
With a quick turn of your head, eyes focused on
unsuspecting prey swimming around you.
One swift, deliberate, forceful strike yields you a morning meal.
Feeling satisfied you flee the creek for a distant lands.