Mirage, and chaparral Circle below your red tail Heat, like a fever ghost Up-drafting, you sail And shadow play the trail. All wing span, and talon With eyes that never miss Spry, but patient hunter Red meat must be bliss On this peneplain of no rain: Prairie dog barks & Rabbit tails Road runner marks Hot wind wails. Life long mates heighten nests Environment, and daily tests Young to feed, and shade to find A regal bird with dark brown crest Predators make no man's pets Spotted chest -- killer of pests. Alone, but by choice. With desert in your voice.