I recently attended a choral concert that featured a charming piece called “Songbird” by Canadian composer Sarah Quartel. The lyrics are rather like a children’s counting song — “one little bird on a branch, two little birds in flight” — and so on. I was more absorbed in the lush music than in the poetic, romanticized lyrics. That is, until the singers came to the final verse.
“Fly, little songbirds, to the horizon.
Land meets sky and sky meets sea.”
Could the composer have known about the special vision that some birds possess?
During migration, especially over water and in low light, birds can detect polarized light, which allows them to know where the sun is even after sunset or before dawn. That means they can maintain a sense of direction long after the light has faded from our eyes.
But it doesn’t stop there. Some birds (and insects) can also see ultraviolet light, which lies beyond the visible spectrum for humans. And in very low light, particularly in the blue and UV ranges, specialized molecules in their eyes allow them to sense the Earth’s magnetic field. This helps them stay on course even in complete darkness.
So yes... fly little birds to the horizon… where land meets sky and sky meets sea. Or, in our case, along the shores of the Great Lakes, little birds raise their voices higher, breathe into the wind, and sing: “Come my way.”
