Dear Polly,

I know you’ve mentioned that you like birds. What is your favorite kind, and why.  Are they any birds you don’t like?

Soaring,
Marge P., East Berlin, Pennsylvania

=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=

Dear Feathered-Friend,

I am pretty fond of most birds.  I absolutely love to watch them fly.  Sometimes, I wish I could fly like the birds.  Simply to hop from where I am standing, spread my wings,  and fall into the breezes above.

But back to the matter at hand.  It is worth two in the bush.  I DO like some birds more than others.  At this moment in time, I would most certainly have to select the Pelican.  What is not to like about a Pelican?

Now… before I met them, I had a lot of favorite Ohio birds.  Flickers are stylish.  I love a little dapper Wren.  The Nuthatch, Titmouse, and any Woodpecker, all rank pretty high with me.

My long term favorite.. the old standby… is the Crow.  (Okay.  Before I get a bunch of flaming emails about Crows, let me say this.)  They are smart.  Smart as a whip.  Jimminy-Cricket-Cracking-Smart.

Crows are considered to be among the most adaptable and intelligent birds in the world.  They have a varied and evolved language. They can mimic the sounds made by other animals.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better than this…. Crows have been shown to use tools in multiple ways, and not just to get food.

There’s one more thing… they collect bright shiny objects.  Bobbles.  I too, like shiny objects.  And…. yep.  For that reason, I like a good crow.

But back to Pelicans.  They are awkwardly graceful.  Trendy, you might say.  Stylish.

The first time I took notice of them is in flight.  They skim stealthily along the surface of the water.  They fly fast.  They have to do it exactly right… because Pelicans have this monstrosity of a beak at the end of their crooky-rooky necks.

But then, when you least expect it… kasploooosh!  They flop recklessly into the water.  When they bob up to the surface, they take a brief second to right themselves… and then…

And then….  they knock back their heads like somebody sitting at a bar doing jello shots.  Or even someone at a Raw Bar… kicking back Oysters on the half-shell.  It is so much fun to watch.

Pelicans are friendly, social birds.  But they are so nice… other birds try to steal their just-caught fish right out of their big-pocket-beaks.

There is something terribly wrong about that.

So yes.  I like the Pelican.  I could go on and on.  But enough.

Let’s see.  Birds I don’t like…… Maybe……   Lame Ducks and Bird Brains.

“If you cannot teach me to fly, teach me to sing.” – James Mathew Barrie