White Fronted Chats Poem by Francis Duggan

I see them often though not every day
The male with dark breast band and white, brown and gray
And the female plain as females often are
In birdsworld males the prettier birds by far.

Quiet little birds of late that I've come to know
You see them where rough grass and bracken grow
They search for their prey insects on the ground
And with nodding heads you see them walk around.

In paddocks not far from the ocean shore
The poets and painters them seem to ignore
As you approach them they rise up and fly
And 'White fronted chats' the name they are known by.

They build their cup shaped nest of grass and hay
On shrub and three or sometimes four eggs lay
Pale spotted eggs their nests are seldom found
Though shrubs and tussocks you may search around.

They are not common neither are they rare
And they have their places don't live everywhere
In paddocks not far distant from the sea
White fronted chats are birds one often see.