The notion Rob Fergus proposed appeals to me
Being a person who watches birds
That human culture and evolution advanced
By paying attention to the birds
No doubt people have been keenly aware
Long before the misty dawn of history
Listening to certain songs and bird calls
That tell us where to find food
Because we eat what birds eat
And birds were eating it before we evolved
We could have learned by watching them
What is safe and nutritious
Herons were spearing fish to eat
Before anyone thought to make a spear
Vultures used their beaks to scrape bones
Before people made similar stone tools
Birds were walking around on two legs
Before the first human stood up
Birds communicate through vocalizations
In a kind of language that predates ours
Even modern aviation took cues from birds
With the Wright brothers learning to steer by twisting
To jet planes landing with special wing flaps up
An innovation dubbed Immermann's duck
And if you give it serious consideration
More examples will come to mind
How observing bird behavior can teach us
How much we gained through imitation
