Cockatoos eat with their left leg,
their right hangs on to their perch.
They gobble and chew so neatly
without a sideways lurch.
You’ll see them up on the fence,
having a tasty lunch,
feeding themselves an apple,
never missing a single crunch.
Hungry cockatoos by James Aitchison
Hungry cockatoos. Photo by Philip Webster
A group of eagles is a convocation
And a group of starlings, a murmuration
Ibises cheer in a congregation
Then bin dive with great elation
Kingfishers live in concentration
Whilst peacocks strut in an ostentation
Larks fly and sing in exaltation
An emu from the mob represents our nation
Kookaburras laugh in a raucous riot
Pods of pelicans glide in the quiet
A siege of herons (on a strict fish diet)
Duck and dive and bathe in private
Seagulls bicker in a squawking squabble
A gaggle of gregarious turkeys like to gobble
Sparrows gather in what’s called a quarrel
A waddle of penguins can sometimes wobble
A tiding of magpies warbles all the time
Tiny little fairywrens make a chime
A murder of crows isn’t always a crime
A ballet of swans: graceful in their prime
Give the Birds a Rap by Erica Chester
Image from Pixabay
We all know kookaburras
love to sit in old gumtrees,
But how ‘bout welcome swallows
twirling on the breeze?
The palm cockatoo
loves to drum his homemade sticks,
While his cousin, with the sulphur crest,
loves to do his tricks.
The colourful rainbow lorikeet
loves to play and chatter,
But the serious powerful owl
likes to focus on things that matter.
Curious black and white magpies
like to warble right on dawn,
Whilst the crow caws away
His sound is most forlorn.
Beautiful little fairy wrens
are hopping all day long,
While the pied butcherbird
sings his melodic song.
The scatter-brained bush turkey
likes to scratch around,
While spotted green catbirds
make an awful wailing sound.
What a wonderful, noisy, crazy,
Colourful and cheery bunch,
Who tweet and chirp and caw
and laugh and drum and screech and munch.
Image by David Clode from Pixabay
Outside my window
Black cockatoos
Walk on the grass
searching for bugs and worms after the rain.
Outside my window
currawongs hover, seeking space between cockatoos,
hungry for bugs and worms after the rain.
Outside my window
plovers land and take off again.
Too many others searching for bugs and worms after the rain.
No room for eggs here.
Outside my window, magpies chase away the larger birds.
They won the yard today.
(In response to prompt #2 What’s Outside Your Window?)
As this is Jacinta’s first contribution to Australian Children’s Poetry we thought you’d like to know a little bit about her:
I’m a writer living in the bush in southern Tasmania with my black pug, Bellatrix. When I’m not writing I look out my window to Kunanyi, Mount Wellington, and watch the many birds foraging in the trees and on the grass. I write for children and hope to publish picture books.
Dacelo novaeguineae
Ho, koo-koo-kaa-kaa,
Kookaburras,
Laughing in your trees;
No jumbuck jollier,
Gladly I’d follow yu’,
Life was meant to please.
Can you whistle?
Oh but this’ll
Do, for laughter’s sweet
And you could,
If you but stood
Your terribly ticklish feet.
Tiring is this
Wing-flap business,
But you need to fly;
For ticklish feet
Sure has you beat,
But what a way to die!
Hoo hoo hoo, and he haw hay
laughed the Kooka on his way.
After him the magpies chased
winging past in reckless haste.
What was it that the Kooka heard
to cause the magpies get so stirred?
An ornithologist rushed to meet
a magpie walking on two sore feet.
‘I’m scared to fly,’ the magpie wailed
‘They laughed at me because I failed.’
He then limped on, a bird unique,
an unhappy agoraphobic freak.
Australian Children’s Poetry 