Distinctive From Other Birds

I see them often though not every day
The whistling blackbird sized birds of brown and gray
From wooded places never far away
Near where trees and bushes are they like to stay

Their beautiful whistling their claim to Nature's fame
Gray shrike thrushes for them is their familiar name
Once seen and once heard you will know them again
Their distinctive whistling with you does remain

In cup shaped nest of bark and grass on fork of tree or hollow in standing stump the female bird lay
Two to four pale eggs with brown spots through the gray
Of human kind they do not seem to be that shy
They allow you get quite close to them before to the trees they do fly

They are sometimes seen in backyards where there are bushes and trees
And so pleasant their whistling song carrying in the breeze
Small frogs and ground insects they search on ground for to eat
And skinks to them are a tasty treat

Distinctive from other birds with ways of their own
To most rural people gray shrike thrushes are known
Brown and gray and plain looking but with a beautiful whistling song
Once seen and once heard you never again get them wrong