Native Bird Poems

Room 26 have been studying New Zealand Native Birds this term. The Newspapers in Education had a 6 page mini-paper which got us all hooked into the plight of some of our endangered native birds and what conservation groups are doing to try and help save them from extinction.
We followed up our reading and activities with an individual inquiry into one of New Zealand native birds. After finding out lots of information each Room 26 child wrote a poem about their chosen bird.
Attached are a few of the poems and a full selection is available to read both in the School and Class Libraries.
We hope you enjoy them

Room 26

New Zealand Native Bird Poems by Room 26

Orange-fronted Parakeet

Soaring, darting, flitting,

My grassy- green plumage

Protrudes out of the clear sapphire sky,

Lands in the burnt umber, trunk

Nesting peacefully ,

Taking off, darting through the trees,

My beady eyes scan the trees for juicy berries.

My outstretched wings

Slowly retract

Coming to rest against my pear-shaped body.

As I descend to my home

By Adam

Kea

My midnight button eyes peer,

Searching for predators.

I continue strolling,

Claws gripping the forest floor.

Sun reflecting

Off my ruffled plumage

Creating golden streaks

Down my olive and khaki body.

My emerald tail

Dragging along behind me.

Suddenly I spot

A bunch of ripe berries,

Perching on a jagged branch.

Shuffling swiftly over

plucking them off

As a delectable taste

Bursts into my mouth.

Completely satisfied…

By Eden

A Day as a Pukeko

Glancing, glaring, scanning, skimming,

Red sunken eyes peeking .

Elongated wings, ruffled, black, indigo,

White.

Out stretched scarlet legs, strutting graciously,

Murky habitat cloaks me

Sad and gloomy ,

Glum.

A predator lurks, it moves, it stalks.

A screech , a yell , an exasperating howl

Nuts, seeds, bugs, grass surround my webbed feet.

Jagged claws ready to pounce .

Awkwardly lingering then heading back home,

I fly, I swoop, I soar, I fall,

A clumsy landing.

Squatting down , my beak tucked against my breast

Asleep at last .

By Jacqueline

NZ Fairy Tern

A copper beak emerges

from hiding within the sand.

Then out comes a pearly head

that is not at all bland.

A silver body comes as well,

hopping out of it’s hiding place.

Two ruby legs, a creamy tail emerge,

prancing around with lots of grace.

When all of it has been revealed

You will know it as a New Zealand Fairy Tern!

By James

Elegant bird

A paua blue streak flows down its wing.

Reaching down to the tip of the tail.

Midnight black surrounds its breast.

Orange cheeks like an embarrassed mortal.

Moulted speckled feathers lay quietly in its nest.

White tipped striking tail feather stands out in the variety of green bush.

The huia was a sedentary bird living on the forest floor.

Debilitated flying was the weakness of this beautiful bird.

Curved beak points to the forest floor.

It was the largest species of New Zealand wattle bird.

You’re probably wondering where you can find it…

You can no longer see this unique bird.

By Kaitlyn

Kakapo

Kakapo, all silver and lime, you’re like a cheetah hurtling through the forest.

A female Kakapo, with charcoal eyes, manoeuvres its way to see the male dance.

Kakapo, gleaming with colours, waddles its way through the overgrown forest.

A Kakapo strides through the forest looking for fruit and seeds.

Pecking at seeds the Kakapo tries to get some food.

Out of the nest a mother wanders through searching for some food for her young.

By Kate

Chatham Island Black Robin

Swooping down

To grasp his prey

He attacks voraciously.

Gobbling the helpless wetas and grubs

The robin glides away

And perches himself on a branch.

Eyeing up wriggling worms

The sooty black robin

Darts down

Deep in the forest.

Approaching the worms

He scoops them up

Like a spoon.

He swallows

And twirls

Into the luminous sun rise.

By Kendall

Kea

Spreading your wings

You leave the branch

Where you perched for the long black night.

You spot a field

Of white, woolly shapes

And you dive towards the ground

Ripping flesh

From the helpless sheep.

You gobble your prey voraciously.

Hearing a shot

Ring out over the land

You rise swiftly into the crisp air.

All that remains of your presence

Is one amber tail feather

Floating downwards

Settling on the grass.

By Sarah

Brown kiwi

So vulnerable left in the forest, just a tiny chick.

Strange animals boomed calls to each other, knowing I was here, like they were tracking me.

Feet padded closer to me.

I deftly sprinted into my burrow

Digging in deep and hoping I was camouflaged.

Large hands grasped me, stroking my small back comfortingly.

I kicked and kicked my captor but it was nothing against him.

A gleaming needle was pierced through my skin, injecting a strange liquid into my body.

I soon woke in a strange capsule.

No bizarre creatures surrounded. No signs of attack. No footprints. I wasn‘t hurt. I look around. I soon realised I was under a wing.

Looking up to find a familiar pair of loving brown eyes staring at me.

My mother, I was found.

By Renee

Kea

Its beady eyes, voracious to devour food.

Scanning the area for its lunch.

Suddenly a rabbit zooms past,

Trying to act invisible.

Soaring through the air, wings outstretched,

Beating its wings, the Kea swoops.

Snatching the prey, pecking, and gobbling.

Rabbit’s vanished,

And the Kea’s apple-green belly protrudes.

Its plumage glowing.

Standing as still as a statue,

The fierce bird waits for more prey.

by Daniel

Chatham Island Snipe.

Ashen eyes glancing

Elongated creamy legs

Arrays of plumage

Feet rustle the leaves

Bolting, sniffing out its prey

Gulping down insects

by Joshua