Once Seen And Once Heard Poem by Francis Duggan

Once seen and once heard you never again can get them wrong
Gray butcherbirds have such a beautiful song
Of dark head gray wings and tail and under of light gray
With hooked bills on thorns and spikes they impale their prey
In straggly cup shaped nest of twigs on a sapling tree
The female lay brown dotted green eggs of five, four or three
At nesting time on the natural aggression they are born with they do not hold back
Even humans who venture into their territory they will attack
Their beautiful bubbling like songs so melodious and clear
Make them so distinctive and a joy for to hear
Slightly bigger than a magpie lark with ways of their own
To south eastern Australian birders gray butcherbirds are well known
With beautiful songs so melodious and clear
In woodlands and treed parklands them one often does hear.