Singing Honeyeaters For Them Poem by Francis Duggan

Often seen as single or in pairs or in small flocks three or four
On flowering shrubs and bushes by the ocean shore
Honeyeaters of dark brown, yellow and breasts of striped grey
People walking by the southern sea hear and see them every day
They are not birds who do have a widespread fame
Singing honeyeaters for them is their common name
In cup shaped nest of grass on fork of small tree the female bird lay
Two or three palish eggs from view well hidden away
For honeyeater they have a rather loud song
Once seen and once heard one should never again get them wrong
They are more trustworthy of humans than most other birds are
When you approach them from you they never fly far
To nature walkers by the southern shore they are well known
Singing honeyeaters do have a charm of their own.