My First 25 Bird Haikus

How often do you stop to listen to the birds?

Here's a simple, cost-free recipe to help with your peace of mind.

Every day, preferably before you grab your phone, get outside to drink in some sunlight. Stand silently and just breathe the fresh air.

Actively listen to birdsong. Those sounds are always there. But most people cruise through their lives, lost in their thoughts, never paying attention to what the skies have to say.

Take a moment to hear the universe talk to you through the birds.

And if the weather is gloomy or you can't get outside for another reason, I can help.

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I'll highlight a different bird & its unique song every day!

This will be a compilation of the first 25 I've featured, over in the Poets Community, paired with a haiku or two for each.

This will be my first time publishing in our Earth community. even though I'm a natural phenomenon. ⚡😁👍

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Here are 25 Birds in My Garden.

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1) ~The Indigo Bunting

In parts of the Eastern United States, Indigo Bunting may be the most prominent songbird, with the deep-blue males singing along every roadside. The more inconspicuous plain brown females do almost all the work of caring for the eggs and young, hidden away in dense thickets.

In the America, these birds are more common today than when the Pilgrims landed.

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2) ~The Siskin

Called the European siskin, the common siskin or just siskin, these birds are very common throughout Europe and Eurosiberia. They can be found in forested areas, where it feeds on seeds of all kinds, especially of alder and conifers.

It exhibits sexual dimorphism, a condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics, including characteristics not related to reproduction.

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3) ~Starlings

Starlings have complex vocalizations which take from their surroundings. They have even been known to mimic car alarms and human speech. They have been researched in relation to the evolution of human language.

Listen to starlings talk, including one chatting with Johnny Carson.

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4) ~The Mockingbird

Studies have shown that some mockingbirds can identify individual humans and treat them differently based on learned threat assessments.

The northern mockingbird is the state bird of Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Hear them. 👆

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5) ~The Taiwan Barbet

In Taiwan, it is known as the "five-colored bird", referring to the five colors on its plumage. Its call resembles that of a percussion instrument known as a wooden fish. Hear it. 👆

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6) ~The Whip-Poor-Will

For many people, hearing a whip-poor-will song is a welcome sign of spring, signaling warmer weather, longer days, and renewed life in the forest.

Some superstitions, however, assign dark meanings to the nighttime calls of the whippoorwill, claiming its cry signifies an imminent death.

Do you hear them👆 at night?

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7) ~The Tawny Owl

Non-migratory and highly territorial, when a tawny owl is young, it must find its own niche in the environment or it will starve. It is successful at night because of its vision, hearing adaptations, and its ability to fly silently. Mainly hunting rodents, this owl usually drops suddenly from a perch and rapidly seizes its prey, which it then swallows whole.

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8) ~The Firecrest

Native to temperate Europe and northwestern Africa, firecrests are found in culture all the way back to the tales of Aristotle and Pliny, who related the legend of a contest amongst birds to see who deserved to be their king. The title was to be awarded to the one that could fly highest. At first, it seemed certain the eagle would win. But then he became tired and a small bird hidden under his tail feathers came forth and flew even higher, claiming victory.

A legend from European folklore told a similar tale, about the king of birds being the smallest of birds.

There is some debate among scholars about which species of bird was being referenced. Many believe it was a wren... but the firecrest's old name was "fire-crested wren."

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9) ~The Green Heron

The green heron are pigs with long necks. They eat frogs, leeches, earthworms, dragonflies, damselflies, grasshoppers, spiders, crayfish, prawns, small rodents, lizards, tadpoles, and snakes. The many types of fish they eat include minnows, sunfish, catfish, perch, eels-- even goldfish in urban areas. They chow down on basically any invertebrate or vertebrate prey that they can catch.

Watch them in action. ⚡😁👆

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10) ~The Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

The song of the rose-breasted grosbeak is a subdued mellow warbling, like a sweeter version of an American robin. Males start singing early in the year, occasionally even when still in winter quarters. Their call is a sharp pink! or pick! somewhat reminiscent of a woodpecker call.

Hear them. 👆

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11) ~The Painted Bunting

Often said to be the most beautiful bird in North America, the Painted Bunting is also called the Mexican canary, painted finch, pope, or nonpareil. It's easy to identify because of its bright feathers, but it can be difficult to spot because it often skulks in foliage as it's singing.

Hear it sing. ☝️

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12) ~The Scarlet Tanager

A medium-sized American songbird, belonging to the cardinal family, it has plumage and vocalizations similar to other members of the cardinal family. It resides in thick deciduous woodlands and can be found in suburbs.

The Scarlet Tanager is an extremely rare vagrant to Western Europe.

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13) ~The Cedar Waxwing

A native of North and Central America, the cedar waxwing breeds in open woodlands in southern Canada. It winters in the southern half of the United States, Central America, and in northwest South America.

Some of its wings have red tips, resembling sealing wax, which gives these birds their name.

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14) ~The Yellow Warbler

Roughly 60% of Yellow Warbler's diet is caterpillars.

Hear them. ☝️

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14) ~The Purple Finch

The purple finch breeds in the northern United States, southern Canada, and the west coast of North America.

It was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He specified the locality as Carolina.

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15) ~The Eastern Bluebird

The state bird of Missouri and New York, the eastern bluebird is a migratory thrush typically found in open woodlands, farmlands, and orchards. They are social birds, sometimes gathering in flocks of over a hundred. However, they are territorial during their breeding season and may continue to defend a feeding area throughout the winter.

Most eastern bluebirds die within their first year of life, but if they survive that year, they can live for 6 to 10 years.

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16) ~The Goldfinch

In spring and early summer, adult males are bright yellow with black foreheads, black wings, and patches of white. Adult females are a duller yellow and olive. Winter birds are drab brown, with no streaks, and with blackish wings and two pale wingbars.

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17) ~The Mourning Dove

Also known as the rain dove, the chueybird, the turtle dove, and once known as the Carolina pigeon, it is one of the most abundant and widespread birds in North America. It is a popular gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and meat.

It breeds prolifically in warm areas. One couple may raise up to six broods of two young each in a single year.

Called 'sonation', the wings of these birds make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing.

Mourning doves are strong fliers, capable of speeds up to 88 km/h (55 mph).

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18) ~The Baltimore Oriole

In North America, they are often found high up in large, leafy deciduous trees. They do not generally reside in deep forests. They migrate. They are adaptable. They can breed in a variety of habitats. They can be found in in orchards, farmland, urban parks and suburban landscapes as long as they retain woodlots. In Mexico, they winter in flowering trees, often on coffee plantations.

The Baltimore oriole is the state bird of Maryland, and the namesake and mascot for the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

The Baltimore oriole is a rare vagrant to Western Europe.

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19) ~The Northern Cardinal

I live in Indiana.

Cardinals are our State Bird.

I've seen these bright red marvels my entire life.

Great Beauty is Everywhere.

We just need to slow down long enough to notice.

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20) ~Grackles

Adult grackles have long, dark bills, pale yellow eyes, and long tails. Adults often have a bluish iridescent appearance on their head, especially the males.

Although it's poorly understood, common grackles are thought to interpret the variability of the Earth's magnetic field, attuning to that dynamic energy. This is called magnetoreceptivity.

Don't confuse them with crows and ravens (like I did). Grackles are smaller than their more infamous cousins.

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21) ~The Violet-green Swallow

Violet-green Swallows are aerial acrobats that soar high, often over bodies of water, in search of flying insects. They perch on wires or exposed tree branches. Violet-green Swallows are social songbirds that group together with other swallows and swifts.

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22) ~Blue Grosbeaks

A migratory bird, with nesting grounds across most of the southern half of the United States and much of northern Mexico, the blue grosbeak migrates south to Central America and in very small numbers to South America. It can be found in riparian woodland, scrub, thickets, cultivated lands, woodland edges, overgrown fields, and hedgerows.

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23) ~Blue Jays

Jaybirds have attitude. They can be very aggressive. Blue jays sometimes raid nests and even decapitate other birds.

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24) ~the Red-Headed Woodpecker

The red-headed woodpecker is omnivorous, eating insects, seeds, fruits, berries, nuts, sometimes even rodents or the eggs of other birds. They keep food caches, stuffing supplies in tree cavities, crevices, and under tree bark. By saving up for a rainy day, they stay well fed all year long.

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25) ~The Northern Flicker

The northern flicker has over 100 different nicknames, including yellowhammer, clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. Many of these names derive from people's attempts to imitate some of its calls.

You should listen to them yourself. ☝️

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That's my entire compilation for now.

Over the next month, one day at a time, I'll gather together another one.

Researchers from King’s College London and Germany’s Max Planck Institute discovered that listening to birdsong can significantly reduce stress, improve mood, and reduce feelings of anxiety.

Join me as I seek to prove to you that

Bird is the Word.

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