Many of the birds we saw in Africa had names — as in genus, species names — I just don’t recall any of them (except the vulture, of course, and perhaps the ostrich and the penguin).

The birds are curiously enchanting.  They are delicate and alluring and graceful and handsome, in ways that many of the larger, weighty, somewhat lumbering creatures are not.

That may seem obvious, but a visual scan of the savannah landscape reflects a power and responsibility these delicate beings bear for their flightless fellow creatures.

For instance, they are a harbinger of the King of Beasts (except, again, of course, for the vulture, who is there for the opposite reason — namely to feed off of the remains of the kill.  Still an important task, and nonetheless a worthy indicator of potential danger).

But among all the silent warriors who stand guard for those of us earthbound, let’s recognize these feathered gravity-defying beauties who get to fly away.