When was the last time you stood and listened to the birds?
Really listened and paid attention?
You'll soon learn that when it comes to Canberra's startlingly diverse birdlife, there's a voice for every Canberra stereotype imaginable.
Public servants with their lanyards? That's a gang gang - rarified but obvious a mile off. A uni student zipping around on an electric scooter? It's the crimson rosella, just doing its thing. A mum desperately trying to get the kids to school on time? Just like those wood ducks, desperately clutching onto their dignity while corralling gaggles of fluffy ducklings.
Canberra being a thriving city, you'll also see healthcare workers in scrubs, hardy walkers with sticks and gilets, diplomats with sleek DC-plated cars, restaurant hosts carrying trays, military types in full uniform, academics with laptops, spectacles and cardigans.
Transpose each of these types onto a particular bird species, and Canberra really clicks into focus.
Visitors are often surprised by Canberra's birdlife - the variety, the colour, the cacophony that's there all the time. And if you pay attention, you'll see the birds have as many personalities, as many types, as the humans who share this city with them.
For his latest centenary illustration, cartoonist David Pope, an avid bird-watcher if not an outright twitcher, has done the hard yards for us. He knows this is the birds' city, and we just live in it.
The question is, which bird are you?
This magpie - Bushcapita Logistica - doesn't mind looking like an idiot, nor being ironically meta. What, you're worried about being swooped by one of your own? Good thing he's staying hydrated, though.
Look, this superb wren - Puffer Ballis - just likes to be warm, OK? The Canberra uniform of a puffer jacket and scarf suits him just fine, and he'll keep it on all day, thanks.
Despite the deafening screech - or perhaps because of it - the sulpher-crested cockatoo - Officiate Russelensis - has always had a whiff of the upright navy type. Hop to it, cocky!
The galah - Artse Farticus - has a whiff of the art-lovvie about her, always has. I mean, not many people can pull off pink and grey year round. She's obviously ... creative.
The magnificent peacock - Corpus Diplomatica, nature's kaleidoscope! -really doesn't belong here and we all know it. And yet, despite his flamboyance, he's well and truly a fixture, with his foreign accent and DC plates.
Canberra's a place where you can protest peacefully, say your piece and be yourself. It's a rare and wonderful thing in this mixed up world, just like the delicate spotted pardelote - Democracie Sparrowformis. Seeing one in the wild is an exquisite kind of gift.
Well, that's a gang gang, or Governmentum Australiana, constantly plugged in and playing the game. You may think you're having a polite conversation with one, but they're likely to be looking over your shoulder or down at their smartphones. Often move in pairs or small groups.
You know the type - jumping about determinedly, diligent and on the ball, always with a new thing going on, always learning. And if it doesn't work out, it'll look good on your CV! That's the willie wagtail, or Curriculum Vitae.
They're everywhere in Canberra, and they love what they do - collecting items from all over the place, and curating them carefully. No, not gallery curators, but the industrious satin bowerbird, Institutum Nationalis. Have a particular fixation on blue items, and just sigh in resignation when the roof leaks. Life goes on, and those blue things aren't going to collect themselves!
