Mynah

This nice close up of the mynah is from Wikimedia

Mynah is a noisy bird. It belongs to the starling family. It lives in holes of trees and in corners and small places in apartments. Mynahs move in pairs and share work equally. The mynah has a brown body, black hood on the head, yellow patch behind the eyes and bright yellow bill and bright yellow legs. It is a grasshopper hunter. But mynahs are listed as one of the world's 100 most invasive species and are called pests!

Here is a word in support of the mynah!

I squawk and croak,

Click and whistle,

Fluff my feathers,

And bob my head.

I've insects for breakfast,

And fruits for lunch,

Your leftovers make me

A yummy teatime snack.

One friend for life,

A hole for a house,

I blend with my tree...

Just let me be!

You call me a pest?

I guard my tree,

I drive rival birds away,

I perch on your sill at will

I’m loud - I'm opinionated,

I conference with large numbers.

Don’t you?

AND!

You call me a pest?

Huh?

Ducks? Geese?

How do we know which is which?

How does he know which is which? My little grandson, all of two years had one look at the photos in my blog and said goose! Huh? The poem was on ducks! His picture book has a coloured bird as duck and a white bird as goose. His book is far from wrong.

Most geese are white or black-and-white.

Most ducks have vibrant colours. But there are white ducks too!

I did some research and learnt that there are FOUR  major ways to tell if what you see is a duck or a goose.

Ducks have nostrils high up in their beaks like this

 

and Geese have nostrils lower down in their beaks, like this

Ducks have shorter necks like this one has

Geese have long necks reminding you of swans

Ducks feed in water and Geese feed on grass

They both lay eggs on land, under tall grass or reeds near water.

Ducks quack and Geese honk. but oh! I can't show you that.

The Pigeon

He sits on the shabby wall

And gives his dear friend a call.

 He turns to his back to see

If his coat is dust free.

He flies up in the air

And makes us all laugh and stare.

Ducks in a Pond

Mama Duck Says Quack Quack Quack
Come Behind My Back Back Back

Papa Duck Says Quack Quack Quack
You Make A Strong Pack Pack Pack

Baby Duck Says Quack Quack Quack
And They All Go Yak Yak Yak.

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Please do read more on ducks and geese in my blog: ducks? geese?
The poem is on ducks but you find more geese here!