The great backyard bird count

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event. All over America, bird enthusiasts document the birds they see in an effort to create a “real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent.” This is a wonderful opportunity to teach students about birds, their habitats, and what they require to survive. We've compiled these websites and lesson plans to help you.

Image from the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.

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Related pages

• Stone Mountain State Park: This park not only allows enjoying the beauty of the area but also provides instruction in basic geologic concepts.
• Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education: Students will learn the importance of North Carolina's wildlife resources at this environmental education facility.
• Goose Creek State Park: Located six miles from historic Bath, Goose Creek State Park provides educational opportunities for K-12 students in the flora and fauna of the area.

Related topics

• Learn more about animals, bird watching, birds, environmental science, and science.

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February 12–15 marks the thirteenth year for the Great Backyard Bird Count. All over America, bird enthusiasts will be documenting the birds that they see in an effort to create a “unique snapshot of winter bird abundance and distribution across the continent.” This is a wonderful opportunity to teach students about birds, their habitats, and what they require to survive. Students can also learn how to use field guides and to identify birds by looking at wing shape, size, color, bill shape, behavior, and listening to their call. Using a printable tally sheet students can count the species of birds they see on the school grounds and at home and turn the numbers of birds sighted in to the Great Backyard Bird Count website.

The Mississippi Chapter of the Audubon Society has created a classroom activity kit with materials which introduce students of all ages to the world of wildlife in their backyards. Materials come in five grade ranges: K–1, 2–3, 4–5, 6–8, and 9–12. Although these materials are aligned to the Mississippi Framework of Standards, they are still valuable to teachers of all states. The kit includes “printable activity sheets, fact sheets, and activity instructions, as well as suggested websites where other support material may be obtained.”

The North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences’ Prairie Ridge Project in Raleigh has a family program to teach citizens how to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. The program will be held on Wednesday, February 10th from 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon. This beginner’s tutorial teaches how to record observations. Materials to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count will be provided. Pre-registration is required. Please contact Charles Yelton at 919-733-7450, extension 672.

The following websites and lesson plans are helpful when teaching a unit on birds.

Websites

All about Birds

This multimedia field guide includes images, migratory range maps, audio recordings of bird song and extensive information about each species including description, habitat, food, behavior, reproduction and conservation status.

National Audubon Society

Not only can you find out about John James Audubon, the famous artist of Birds of America and look at the beautiful plates in this book but you can also look through webcams at a variety of birds in migration or nesting, depending on the time of the year. Find videos, images, and information about birds, the environment, and more.

Birdsource: Birding with a Purpose

Allows bird watchers to record their observations with special programs in order to assist ornithologists “define bird ranges, populations, migration pathways, and habitat needs.”

eBird

Students can keep track of the birds they see and keep a log of this information for their class on this wonderful website.

Introduction to the Aves: The Birds

Concentrates on the paleontology and evolutionary history of birds. It chronicles the fossil records of birds, its evolution from the dinosaurs, nesting and feeding habits, role in nature, adaptations, and more.

eNature.com

Includes a field guide with over 5,000 species, a habitat gallery of places for wildlife near you, migration information, an ask-the-expert area, and more. You can also listen to an audio clip of the bird of the day!

NatureWorks

Learn about animal adaptations, habitats and interdependence or go straight to the facts about North American animals and birds.

Listen to Nature

Hundreds of animal sounds from the natural world can be heard in this collection.

Lesson Plans

Birds of a feather, an interdisciplinary unit: Language Arts wing

This lesson, which features Mark Twain’s “Jim Baker’s Blue-jay Yarn,” is part of an interdisciplinary unit on birds that contains math/science and language arts components. In the language arts wing, students will explore dialects and personification through this very entertaining tall tale full of the antics of talking blue-jays.

Birds of a feather, an interdisciplinary unit: Math/Science wing

This lesson is part of an interdisciplinary unit on birds which contains math/science and language arts components. In the math/science wing, students will prepare frequency tables and construct a circle graph of the species of birds observed at bird feeders.

Birds by inquiry

Students will make observations of bird pictures to note the similarities and differences in one animal group. They will note especially the beaks, feet, wings and feathers of different types of birds. The life cycle of birds will be explored.

Birds of Prey

Students independently research several birds of prey and compare the predator/prey relationship

Articles

Bird watching made elementary

Observing and identifying birds can be a gateway to a variety of learning experiences. This primer will get you started birding.