For a longer-term, age-appropriate project that will interest young kids and keep them busy during winter break at home, try Project FeederWatch run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University. This project is ideal as a starter project for families because it’s easy, can be done at home from your window, and connects backyard birdwatchers with ornithologists in a simple and direct way, showing kids right away how community science can help to monitor and protect bird populations. As a classroom project, if you have access to a bird-friendly habitat like a garden or bird feeder, you can conduct at least one two-day bird count even with preschool or elementary students, or participate all season with older students as time allows. As a one-time Montessori parent, I’d call this out as a perfect Montessori school project, especially if your students already spend a significant part of their day outside and if you have access to an outdoor classroom with any kind of bird-friendly habitat.
For families or teachers on a budget, be aware that the annual participation fee is $18, or $15 for Cornell Lab members (in the United States, or a donation of any amount in Canada), plus the cost of any feeders, seed, or plantings you choose to purchase. After signing up, Cornell sends members a research kit with instructions, a poster to help identify common feeder birds, and a calendar to track your watch days. My kids loved these and we had fun looking at the artwork and talking about the birds we already knew.
First, we prepared together by purchasing and filling a bird feeder and small hanging birdbath and setting them up outside our dining room window, giving the birds some time to find them and the kids some time to get excited about bird watching. My first grade daughter has a kid-friendly toy digital camera, and she spent some time this morning taking her own photos of the birds at the feeder.
We immediately learned something new shortly after hanging the feeder. My daughter, husband, and I all noticed one morning in early December when the forecast called for snow that suddenly birds were flocking to the feeder. We hypothesized that they must be able to sense bad weather. Sure enough, sources from research studies to the Old Farmer’s Almanac are filled with examples of the ways in which birds can sense pressure changes and other subtle shifts in wind and temperature that may affect their ability to fly or find food. They have an internal barometer called the Vitali Organ in the middle ear that helps them pick up on these changes. Sue over at Bird Biology has an in-depth post about the biology behind it.
Next, I downloaded the mobile app and added our count site online. You can also use a paper tally sheet if you’re working with kids who would enjoy writing down their count numbers by hand. This week, we’ll sit down together to get to know some of the different types of Missouri birds we’re likely to see at the feeder.
To participate, pick two consecutive days when you’ll be able to watch your bird habitat, then follow the instructions to record your count by species. Ornithologists frequently use the collective data to monitor bird habitats and populations. At the same time, kids who participate are learning core science concepts and skills, from species identification to data collection, in a simple and understandable way. Identifying the species correctly is important to provide accurate data, so if you’re planning to take children outside on your count days, you’ll want to bring along the poster of common feeder birds from your member kit and either a field guide or a phone or tablet with Internet access to check Cornell’s online species guide.
This one’s looking like a great project for a winter stuck at home during the pandemic. The kids’ school moved to distance learning due to rising Covid-19 cases, so it looks like we’ve settled in for a lot of homeschooling activities and family togetherness for a while.
