Backyard Bird Activities

Backyard Birds

"A bird does not sing because
it has an answer. It sings
because it has a song."
- Chinese Proverb

Birds are fascinating to watch,
and it's a lot of fun to learn about
how and why birds do the things birds do.

Learning to understand the behavior of the birds in your backyard is similar to learning another language. A language not just of bird calls, but of body position and movement. When you get to know your backyard birds by their behavior, you'll gain a much deeper understanding of these fine feathered creatures.

What You Need:
A few simple tools will help you observe birds.

• Binoculars
• Notebook or sketchpad and pencil to help you record and remember what you see
• Loupe or Magnifying Glass - these will help you get a more detailed look at bird feathers

Bird Baths
Keeping feathers clean isn't just a matter of tidiness for birds. Dirty feathers can slow down a bird and interfere with its ability to maneuver in flight. Removing dust also helps feathers remain waterproof so rain rolls off the birds.

• Set up a bird bath in your yard. Use a shallow pan propped up on a few rocks and keep it filled.
• Keep a list of all the birds that use your bath.
• Do other backyard critters use the water? How?
• Brainstorm to come up with creative things you can use as a bird bath. For example, and old wash basin or upside-down garbage can lid.

Make a Bird Blind

• Create a bird blind near your bird feeders for close-up observations. A large cardboard box works well. Cut a small window in the box for you to look through. You might even want to camoflauge the box with clippings from tree trimmings.
• Let the birds get used to your box for a day or two. Then go sit in the box and watch the birds up close.
• Bring binoculars, a notepad, and a Bird Field Guide. Record your observations.
• See if you can identify different types of beaks among the birds that visit your feeders.

Observe Feathers
Feathers are one feature that makes birds unique - no other creatures have them. Without their feathers, birds cannot survive. Feathers are both a bird's source of natural insulation and a critical part of its flight gear.

• Observe feathers found in your yard. Can you identify the birds the feathers came from?
• Use a Loupe or Magnifying Glass to look at the feathers up close.
• See if you can identify the parts of each feather. Look for the shaft, the vane, barbs, and barbules.
• Feathers are made of the same stuff as your fingernails - keratin. Birds have several kinds of feathers. Soft, light feathers are down feathers or semiplumes. Flight feathers are large and stiff. If one side of the feather is more narrow than the other side, it's a wing feather. If both sides of the feather are equally wide, it's probably a tail feather. Can you identify the different types of feathers you find in your yard?
• Make sketches of the feathers and use colored pencils to color them in.

Bird List

• Observe your yard and neighborhood every day at the same time of day and write down the birds you see. Use a Bird Field Guide to help you identify each bird.
• Do the birds typically arrive at the same time each day?
• What are the birds doing? What are they eating?
• One of the most amazing things about birds is their ability to fly. Each species of bird has its own way of flapping, gliding, soaring, and otherwise manuevering. Observe the flight patterns of the birds in your yard. Can you identify a bird flying, just by the way it flies?
• Join Project Feederwatch and help count the birds in your yard. Project Feederwatch is a science project of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, Bird Studies Canada, and the Canadian Nature Federation. For more information, visit Project Feederwatch online.

Listen to Birds

• Close your eyes and listen to the birds that visit your yard.
• Can you identify the birds by their sounds?
• Try to imitate the bird calls. An Audubon Bird Call may help.