Maine is a veritable cornucopia of songbirds, colored birds, cute and gymnastic birds and opportunistic birds.

Once you’ve seen the eagle swoop majestically through the forest, the hawk hunt small things, the humming bird do gymnastic routines while drinking through a long, thin beak, the sand piper do his little dance along the edge of the next wave on the beach, while the sea gull hovers overhead just waiting for you to get more than three feet away from your bag of potato chips, you have just begun to sample the treasury of birds that Maine has to offer – whomever will stand still for a moment and watch.

My favorite bird is the red, red robin, that comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along just before my birthday and promising warmer weather, April showers and flowers, that will bloom in May. Robin redbreast walks slowly and gently, head turned to the side, so that the place where his ear should be is flat to the ground, listening for the sound that earthworms make as they wend their way through the earth, making channels for water and nutrients to get to the roots of the grasses and plants that make a garden or a lawn row green and lush, but I must admit I have never seen a bird with ears that stick out.

Birds must have ears, or why would they bother making all those tweeting, twittering noises, or birdsongs as some folks like to say, and if they do, bird ears must be “insies” rather than “outsies,” because “outsies” would cause aerodynamic turbulence, slowing the bird down in flight and reducing its chance of survival. Must be the same reason why fish ears are “insies,” too.

And here’s the pastime: Just imagine what sound the North American earthworm makes as it drills, eats, or slithers its way through the earth, such that robin redbreast can hear and locate him and then, “bam” down goes the sharp little beak and comes up with a fat, yummy earthworm and, “glup,” it’s breakfast.

There’s no harm done in thinking about it.

As a high school science project, it would take some very sophisticated electronic equipment to record the sound of the earthworm. However, if the results were pressed on a vinyl disk, or engraved on a compact read-only music disc and titled, “Songs of the North American Earthworm,” I suspect it would sell several thousand copies on the first day of release.

Orrin Frink is a Kennebunkport resident. He can be reached at ofrink@gmail.com.