A question for the ornithologists

[Yellow Fang]

When we were boys, our granny often used to sing us the Vera Lynn song that goes:

There'll be blue birds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.

I often wondered what the blue birds were. Do you think she meant blue tits, because they are not really a seaside bird? Is there a blue species of seagull, perhaps one that is sensitive to engine noise?

 

[vernon]

It's a metaphor for happiness. There are no blue birds in the UK.

 

[pplpilot]

Google / Wiki says-
"a "Bluebird of Happiness" as a symbol of cheer, although there are no bluebirds in Dover (the bluebird is not indigenous to Britain). Nat Burton, the lyricist of the song, was an American who had never been to the place. But, the song captured the feelings of the Allies about protecting Britain from the planned German invasion."

 

[Beebo]

Maybe she meant the Datsun Bluebird, which was without a doubt the worst car my father ever bought.
It rusted away to nothing in about 5 years.

 

[pplpilot]

Maybe she meant the Datsun Bluebird, which was without a doubt the worst car my father ever bought.
It rusted away to nothing in about 5 years.

5 years? Done well to get that far...

 

[Fnaar]

I think it was actually a canny prediction of the eventual influence of Twitter, as pilots these days would no doubt be tweeting "Flying over the white cliffs of Dover #jerry #nyakatakataka"