We love our birds and enjoy watching them. So, for our spring time nature study, each of the children chose a favorite bird that we are seeing frequent our yard. We talked about the seasons and which birds we see more of when. We all look forward to seeing some gold finches soon, hopefully.
Cardinal – (five-year-old’s pick) Five-year-old hears them perched in the trees, announcing themselves, when they are in our yard and about to stop by the feeder. I wondered if maybe this female cardinal was a juvenile. However, 6th grader informed me that juveniles look just like a female but have black beaks.
Bluebird – Middle girl picked this bird and is sharing a photo our Aunt Mary took of a bluebird on her birdhouse. She said she was hiding in the hydrangea bush to get the photo! Isn’t it gorgeous?? You simply must go to her Flickr Photo Stream and watch the video of the pileated woodpecker. Oh just take a little break and enjoy all of her wonderful photos.
When we asked if we could use her photo, she went and peeked in the bluebird box and got a photo of one of the babies!
Middle Girl also put together a homemade bird bath over spring break.
Chipping sparrow – (Lil’ Buddy picked this bird). Here’s 6th grader, sharing his knowledge, “the male chipping sparrow sings in the morning and in the evening. We see chipping sparrows all the time at our feeder.”
Hummingbirds – (picked by 6th grade boy). We saw a hummingbird near our regular bird feeder a few weeks ago, so we knew it was time to put the hummingbird feeder up. We make our own nectar with three parts water to one part sugar. Can’t wait to see the hummingbirds bathing in the morning dew like last year’s Hummingbird Pauses.
Mourning Dove – eldest girl loves these sweet birds that gather round underneath the feeder. They also startle us when we startle them as we head out into the backyard!
We have heard or seen the following birds:
- cardinal pairs
- doves
- chipping sparrows
- blue jay
- bluebirds
- brown headed nuthatches
- robins
- hummingbirds
- red-bellied woodpecker
- mockingbird
- brown thrasher
A few favorite resources:
- Our favorite bird feeder: Window Observer Feeder
- Field Guides we use: Audubon First Field Guide: Birds (still our favorite), Birds of North America, National Wildlife Federation’s Field Guide to Birds of North America and Smithsonian’s Birds of North America.
- Backyard Birdsong Guide – look up your favorite bird and listen to its call.*favorite! favorite!
- Audubon plush bird toys – the one stuffed animal I don’t mind having a pile of! Squeeze bird to hear its song.
- Bubba’s homemade suet recipe – peanut free for our home! (Plus birds love our leftover Sunbutter® sandwich scraps. Well, squirrels do too).
- Your Backyard DVD – from our friends at Crowe’s Nest Media
Many thanks to Barb-Harmony Art Mom and the inspiration she shares at The Handbook of Nature Study. You should see her bird list! It always fun to see the types of birds that frequent her yard on the west coast.
Click the button above and join in the nature study delight!
What birds are you seeing your backyard? Which are your favorites?
Wow! What a wonderful bird study you guys have done. We love the Birdsong book, too. I love that first photo! Beautiful bird shots, too.
Thank you Phyllis. Lil’ Buddy loves to press the button and listen to the birds! My Aunt Mary Ann is THE nature (especially birds) photographer. We’ve learned so much from her. You must click over and watch her pileated woodpecker video. Those are huge birds!
Loved the video! Our woodpeckers are super small compared to that guy!
We have a sweet pair of mourning doves under our feeder as well. I love the sound of their wings when they fly off together. Great choices and my favorite is the bluebird and baby. Our yard is strangely quiet this week. I know we have a Cooper’s hawk that is tormenting the birds at the back feeder but even the front feeder is empty quite a bit now. Nesting? Not sure.
We love our Audubon plush toys and it is a favorite souvenir when we travel to purchase a new one to remind us of a new bird. Thanks for sharing all your resources. Loved reading your entry.
The first photo is the sweetest! Luci, I love the mourning doves, too, especially love to listen to them. Such a great family study!
Great bird study, and such wonderful photos! We also have some of the plush bird toys at our house.
Beautiful Photos! I am thinking I need this Bird Song Book! I’m headed out to lop off some of my hair today – might take a few quiet moments at the bookstore as well. I am finally coming full circle and mellowing about my bird studies. I am feeling the joy creep back in. 😉 Love the study!