“may my heart always be open to
little birds who are the secrets of living”
– E. E. Cummings
The little birds of the world are mostly songbirds. They are the birds that fill our trees and delight us with their music. They flitter around our homes and in the cities, along rivers and in mountains. They are the birds we are most familiar with and there are millions of them. These small perching birds are called passerine, named after the order Passeriformes and include more than half of all bird species on earth. Warblers, sparrows, tanagers, orioles, finches, flycatchers, thrushes and many more.
Passerine birds, although located everywhere, can be difficult to see and harder to photograph. They move erratically among leaves and shadows, not stopping for more than a few seconds. Successfully captured images of them are prized among bird photographs. Hawks and herons are easy in comparison.
I am often on Zoom with people from all over the world. Sometimes, while talking or listening, I hear the song of a bird unique to far away places, entering the Zoom space with its exotic melodies and chirps. Little birds may be soulfully expressing themselves or communicating important messages to each others. And, if we listen attentively, they can also teach us profound secrets of living.
As you know, the number of birds are drastically declining. In some places where once birdsong joyfully exploded in the air, there is silence. A world without birds would be a devastated planet.
Please leave a comment below.
Thanks Carla, enjoyable blog. I wish you were here with me in the Solomon Islands, as you would be hearing many unusual bird calls and singing.