Great White Egrets Poem by Francis Duggan

For beauty few birds with them one can compare
In their range not plentiful though also not rare
Great White Egrets for them is an often used name
The great white egrets of Australia and of other Lands of species the same
Near water they are birds one often does see
They build a stick nest on reed beds or high on a tree
Three to six greeny blue eggs they are known to lay
These birds I see often though not every day,
In shallow water to their knees they do usually stand
In search of their prey a few metres in from land
Insects, crustaceans and amphibians are things they do eat
And small fish to their taste buds do also taste sweet
They seize their small prey in their sharp yellow bills
And raise their long necks as they swallow their kills.