Look death in the eye,
Or stare into the sun, and
One will look away.
A fluffy blue tit,
Thirsty and rheumy-eyed, you
Sedentary bird.
The second haiku relates recent press reports on the current demise of many blue tits in Germany, where the birds are infected with the bacterium Suttonella ornithocola. Symptoms include feathers that appear to be fluffed up, and an insatiable thirst. Blue tits never really stray far from the nest where they were fledged.
