Magpie Larks Poem by Francis Duggan

From where humans are they are never far away
The black and white magpie larks birds one does see and hear every day
Known to some as mudlark and some by their song which sounds like pee wee
They build a cup shaped nest of mud on fork of low branch of tree

At home in town parks or backyards or paddocks of the countryside
In Australia magpie larks do live Nationwide
To every Australian birds that are known
And they do have ways and a charm of their own

They never live in large flocks though in numbers they abound
And they live mostly on insects they find on the ground
I often see and hear them sing in the park of the town
And as they call out pee wee they raise their wings up and down

Of human kind they never show that much fear
Before they take to flight to them you can come near
Dainty black and white birds with a familiar song
You see and hear them once and you never again get them wrong