The Windhover The Windhover "The Windhover" is a sonnet by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889). It was written on May 30, 1877, but not published until 1918, when it was included as part of the collection "Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins". Hopkins dedicated the poem "to Christ our Lord". "Windhover" is another name for the common kestrel ("Falco tinnunculus"). The name refers to the bird's ability to hover in midair while hunting prey. In the poem, the narrator admires the bird as it hovers in the air, suggesting that it controls the wind as a man may control a horse. The bird then
Toxic bird known to be toxic and able to cause coturnism at certain stages in their migrations. Toxic bird Toxic birds are birds that use toxins to defend themselves from predators. No species of bird is known to actively inject or even produce venom, but some birds are known to be poisonous to touch or eat. These birds usually sequester poisons from animals and plants that they feed on, commonly from poisonous insects. The pitohui, the ifrita, and the rufous or little shrikethrush sequester batrachotoxin in their skin and feathers. The African spur-winged goose is toxic to eat as it sequesters poison