The Young Birdwatchers Club

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Grab your clip boards! It’s time to stop talking about birds and go find some!  We spent one afternoon last week hiking along our nature trail in search of common, local birds.  On each board, the children had images of twelve birds they might see.

Now, imagine you are with a group of 15 four and five-year-olds who are honestly trying to creep quietly along the path.  The birds are chirping loudly all around.  Someone yells, “I think I hear a cardinal!”  Pandemonium ensues.

Although we never again  coaxed all 15 into quiet listening again, we did see many of the birds on our lists.  We even had to add the Mourning Dove since it wasn’t on the list originally.  The only unusual sighting was that of a “vulture”.  Though we tend not to have too many vultures here in Western PA, at least three children claimed to have seen one.  Mrs. Pless and I couldn’t verify the sighting, but we decided that at this stage, even birdwatching invisible birds was teaching them lessons in patience, observation, note taking, and natural wonder.

 

Ornithologists I

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With the Mourning Doves nesting right outside, we see them quite frequently.  The children’s interest in them has sparked so many conversations, investigations and projects.  Yet, the most magical interactions happen when the children are playing.

Our Audubon Society birds with authentic sounds have helped us identify many of the birds on our playground.  During Morning Meeting discussions, the children pointed out that birds make noises so that they may communicate with other birds.  Notice our friend holding the Mourning Dove toward the window?  She’s squeezing its belly and attempting to “communicate” with the real ones right outside.

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A little while ago, we had a very special visitor to help us in our quest to understand ornithology.  Meet Rainbow Dash, a parakeet who loves to sing, flits happily around in his cage and was a lovely friend to spend time with.  While observing Mr. Dash, the children noticed that he enjoyed hopping from branch to branch and didn’t really fly much inside his home.  Although the children were a bit disappointed, they took it rather well when we informed them that, no, he was not going to have a chance to fly around the room.

For the Birds

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Before we left for Spring Break, the children drew our attention to an exciting development outside our window.  A pair of mourning doves had begun to build a nest in a nearby pine tree.  Although we couldn’t see the actual nest, we could see all of the interesting bits the birds were bringing to construct it.  This discovery prompted the children to notice the birds milling around on the rest of the playground.  Within two minutes, they had spotted a cardinal and a robin, as well.

With the growing interest, I pulled together my favorite stuffed birds and a bunch of identification guides.  You have probably heard the children imitating the sound of the mourning dove.  Sadly, this is the only one I am capable of imitating.  However, our plush birds do a great job of twittering and tweeting their sweet songs for the children’s listening pleasure.

Yesterday, we identified our favorites from our backyard bird collection.  After we read a bit about each, the children turned to their journals to record one thing they had learned about their most beloved bird.

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