Rufous Whistlers

Once seen and once heard birds you never again can get wrong Rufous whistlers are known for their loud melodious song Why they sing when thunder or loud noise they do hear To even the well informed on birdlife not obviously clear The male white patch under throat, rufous unders, wings and back slaty gray Birds that i do know of but do not see every day In cup shaped nest of twigs lined with grasses the plainer female from September to February Lay two or three olive blotched brown eggs in fork of branch of tree Their melodious whistler song to it has a distinctive ring Some call them the thunder birds since during thunder they sing Since they are not often seen they are not well known And one can say of them that they have ways of their own Rufous whistlers sing when thunder or loud noise they do hear And why this is so is not obviously clear Even to experts on birdlife and for one such as me From Nature we learn in all we hear and see.