A gentle dove sits on a branch,

cooing to itself,

beautiful bird, with a fawn-coloured head,

sitting in a tree.

A delicate bird, a wonderful mother,

raising her chicks 'til they leave the nest,

she swoops to earth to feed but,

as if startled, she flaps away.

Round head and little bill,

soft feathers and chest markings,

the wings? a blueish-gray,

with a white under-tail.

Red-billed hornbills

Honking like a taxi,

flying as if drunk,

a family of hornbills,

crashes into a tree.

Dropping to the ground,

they search around for food,

flopping around crazily.

Their red beak stands out easily,

their speckled white back too.

Searching around in the underbush,

they hop around, jump over each other,

before they fly off, bobbing in the air.

Note: Text in italics was added recently, it was not part of the original poem.