Spring Bird Study

 I'm really excited for the new May Newsletter from Handbook of Nature Study.  I *hope* it will help us get back into doing nature study.  The Spring weather already has us spending more time outside and our first nature study for this month is of a new bird visiting our birdfeeder - the Lazuli Bunting.  

Here is a not so great photo:

This bird is not in the Handbook of Nature Study book, so we used our Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America and All About Birds to learn more about the Lazuli Bunting. 

Something interesting that stood out to my kids is that the Lazuli Bunting likes to live in "recent post-fire habitats" - they excitedly starting tell me we were seeing so many of them because of the fire near our city last year - my fire posts 1 and 2.  Maybe . . . and maybe its because I changed the bird seed to a songbird variety :). Whatever the reason we are having fun watching these little blue beauties. 

 I let my kids color in a bird outline from the Notebooking Nook's Nature Study - Birds - this set of notebook pages is free at CurrClick. 

N's picture



A's picture



O's picture - she decided to do another frequent visitor to our yard, the Robin :)

Post edited to add another picture of the Lazuli Bunting:

Spring Series #3 - Spring Bird Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Spring Series - #3 Spring Bird Study

For this Bird Study Challenge we didn't do anything special or extra - mostly just continued to notice and listen to birds when we have the opportunity.

We have spent a lot of time lately talking about and listening to birds. My little girls are starting to point them out and get excited to see them. We have been visiting local ponds and a farm where we can see ducks, geese, turkeys, and chickens.

But the bird songs my kids are most familiar with are the ones we hear in our own neighborhood. We sit on the back porch early in the morning to listen to house finches, european starlings, and mourning doves. My kids always stop and put a hand to their ears when they hear the calls of Canada geese, black-billed magpies, or California gulls.

Yesterday we were lucky tohave a Great Horned Owl nest with the mother and 2 babies pointed out to us at some local gardens we were visiting. It has reminded us to go looking for the Great Horned Owls we were able to watch and study last year.

This is a new bird for us and we are working on identifying it:

We have frequently seen it at Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country. When we were there yesterday we noticed a tree with multiple nests in it and we could hear lots of loudly chirping babies waiting for their dinner. The moms and dads were busy coming and going, but we managed to get this quick picture. WhatBird doesn't seem to be working this morning so we'll have to wait for another time. Any ideas?

UPDATE: For some reason I'm not able to view my pictures as larger images - sometimes this happens, but I don't know why. Sorry :(

Threats in our Neighborhood Bird World

Birds: Pigeon & Mockingbird

Our observations of this week's bird, the pigeon, happened while we were driving so we don't have any pictures. We frequently see flocks of them in the farm fields as we pass, and they can always be seen on the underpasses as we are waiting for a light or driving underneath.

This past weekend we went to visit the grandparents, and a favorite activity is going to the river to feed the birds. We always see ducks, geese, seagulls, and many other varieties.

And now . . . for the drama of our neighborhood. The birds who nest in our neighborhood had to be on their toes yesterday! In the morning we had a pair of Red-Tailed Hawks soaring overhead-- everyone was hidden away and very quiet. In the afternoon a pair of Crows ventured into the neighborhood and they were ganged up on and noisily driven off.

In the evening, we had another threat- a neighborhood cat looking for a snack.
On our neighbor's deck there is a Say's Phoebe couple who recently had their eggs hatch. The presence of the cat created some interesting behavior- While making an injured call, the male fluttered above the cat, and then would land in the empty lot behind us, a short distance from the cat- trying to lure the cat away from the house. This continued the whole time the cat was hanging around.

Male Say's Phoebe (sitting on fire pit)

The Female ventured off the nest for a minute to check on the situation (sitting on railing). The nest is located on a ledge around the upper, outer edge of the deck.

After hearing this call for some time a number of other birds decided they needed to know what was happening. We were able to watch Robins, House Finches, Starlings, and Meadowlarks land nearby, assess the situation, and continue on their way. The cat continued to slink through the yard- hiding in bushes and laying in the grass- while the birds managed to stay out of his reach. The cat didn't realize there IS a Mourning Dove nest nearby in the weeds of the empty lot, but they were smart and didn't come out to see what was happening.

Owls & Crows & Swallows- Oh My!!

We have been taking the last couple weeks off from "school," so we haven't been doing the nature challenges as laid out, but we have had some wonderful birding experiences we want to share with everyone.

We have made several more visits to our "Owl Tree," but it has been a week or so since we last saw the owls there. I've been thinking they were owlettes, and have now moved out of the nest. In any case, we miss them.

During a daytime visit we decided to venture under the "Owl Tree," and what a sight! Bird feathers and legs, various bones and animals skulls, a rabbit leg with attached rabbit foot (making my childhood rabbit's foot now seem a little creepy), and owl pellets.
We collected a few owl pellets and took them home. I admit they sat in a container on the counter for a few days before I worked up the courage for us the further investigate.

Digging in!! Despite the provided "tools" (plastic utensils and rubber gloves) my kids just dug in- literally with their hands.
The owl pellets had a nice variety- vertebrae pieces of different sizes, the jaw of some rodent with teeth intact, and plenty of other little bones.
Some of the feathers my kids collected- some we recognized as possibly belonging to a black-billed magpie, another as a possibly starling, and we think the larger striped-looking ones belong to the owls.

We researched the Great Horned Owls on AllAboutBirds and WhatBird, as well as reading the story about them in the Burgess Bird Book (Chapter 45- Peter Sees Two Terrible Feathered hunters). The kids also decided to do a journal page, and they included a poem I found online:

SILENCE is a great
horned owl on a hunt.

Its deadly talons
on a branch, eyes
watching for prey
and then flies away.

We also watched a few youtube videos, the one my kids liked the best was of a Great Horned Owl being harassed by crows. Which made today's experience all the more interesting- as we were outside doing yard work (or playing with friends) a couple crows ventured into our neighborhood. We have many bird nests in our neighborhood- mourning doves, robins, starlings, & house finches- so it wasn't a surprise to see a group of birds working together to try to drive the crows away. In the picture below the crow is on the middle house, on the lower left edge of the far side of the roof. I hope you can click on it to see it better. Above it there are several birds who were diving at the crow.

In this video you can see the birds diving at the crow, and then my kids deciding to join in driving it away when I point out what is happening. Later when we were talking about it, they remembered reading about crows in the Burgess Bird Book (Ch. 17 More Robbers & Ch. 18 Some Homes in the Green Forest), where someone's eggs are taken by Blacky the Crow.

On a nature walk we took earlier this week by the river, we Came across a whole row of Barn Swallow nests. We watched the birds flying in and out with food for their young, and played in the water of course.

Video of the Barn Swallows

On a sadder note, the kids and friends came across a baby black-billed magpie who wasn't in its nest and who couldn't fly during our homeschool group park day. By the time I discovered what was going on the kids had moved it away from where they found it, half-a-dozen of them had held it or touched it, and they were trying to decide what they should do with it. Because it wasn't injured, I managed to convinve them that the best plan would be to return it to where they found it and leave it alone, which they willing did. Unfortunately, we later learned someone felt compelled to take it home and as a result it died. There was no guarantee the bird would have survived if left at the park, but I believe it would have a greater chance of surviving. This prompted a discussion in our family about what to do when you find/catch a wild bird (or any animal). Here is a great site that covers what we discussed: BirdingGuide- Bird Advice.

We have greatly enjoyed our break from school, but we are looking forward to our relaxed summer plans, which will mainly be our nature studies and reading great books.

We LOVE Birds!!

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Birds: Hummingbirds and House Sparrow, House Wren, and Mourning Dove

We have had a fascinating and exciting couple of weeks watching birds in our neighborhood.

We hung up our hummingbird feeders . . .

. . . and the same day we were visited by a male Black Chinned Hummingbird. In the picture below he is sitting at the top of the green-leafed tree. It isn't a very good shot of him, but considering his speed, and the noise of my 3 older kids clamoring to get a look, I feel lucky to have been able to take this shot.

We have seen him every day since this first day. This morning he put on quite a show for my 2 year old and I- darting, zooming, chirping, wings humming as he flew over and over in a big U-shaped pattern, and then he took a moments to chase off a rival before visiting the feeders.

For this weeks challenge we read from the Handbook of Nature Study and the Burgess Bird Book. I had the kids color pictures of the Song Sparrow.

Nyah-

Austin (who didn't feel like coloring)-

We have been watching Mourning Doves feed in our backyard. This is where seeds from the feeder on our deck drop into the grass. We also learned about Mourning Doves a couple weeks ago when we first spotted them in our yard.

I decided to move our feeder this week after surprising a neighborhood cat on our deck several mornings in a row. She was somewhat hidden by the plants and patiently waiting for an unsuspecting bird. Now the feeder is in a place where there isn't any cover for the cat.

Out on a nature walk Our mystery bird- This past Saturday my son and I were in the backyard doing yard work when we noticed a lot of bird noises, specifically baby birds chirping for their parents. After a little investigating we discovered where the noise was coming from- our neighbor's house. The birds have their nests in a small opening between the roof and the decorative block of wood, just below where the bird is sitting in this picture.

This video shows a parent bird going into the nest with a bug in its beak.

We can tell many of the houses in our neighborhood are being used for bird nests- comings and going of parents, lots of frantic baby bird calling, and bird pooh decorate these houses. I felt like a bird-nerd when one of my neighbors (in a friendly sort of way) accused me of attracting the birds to our neighborhood, and all I could think was that it seems to have more to do with an ideal nest location, especially after observing the parents collecting bugs (and not seeds) for themselves and their babies.

But I am having a hard time identifying these birds! They are black, with a green iridescent color to their wings. Their under-bodies are black/dark brown. They have a yellow beak, a little shorter than their head and used for catching bugs. They do not eat at our bird feeders, but we have seen them carrying bugs back to their nests. They are similar in size and shape to Robins. Some of the incorrect search results I have gotten at WhatBird is the purple martin (no purple, yellow beak), the barn sparrow (under-body too dark, yellow beak), and the cowbird (yellow beak, beak not a cone shape, greenish color, not as big). Any ideas?

UPDATE: Thanks to Barb for helping me out! The birds we have been watching are European Starlings, with their breeding feathers. Some of my searches at WhatBird came up with the European Starling, but the pictures show their nonbreeding look, which kept throwing me off! The All About Birds website has pictures of both looks.

The highlight of our birding adventures - Observing 2 adult owls while on our nature walk. You can click on the picture to get a better look at these beautiful birds.

I was pointing out a couple black-billed magpies in the background, and my 6 year old daughter said, "The owl?" and I of course said "No, they aren't owls, they are magpies" and went on talking about them, before my son joined his sister in pointing out the owl, and I realized that they were talking about something completely different. At first I thought it was just part of the tree, and it wasn't until one moved, and the second one fluttered up beside it that I realized it wasn't a tree branch at all, and there really was an owl! In my defense it is time to update my contact prescription. I believe these are Great Horned Owls.

Birds- Goldfinch, Meadowlark, and more!

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Birds #4 Goldfinches & Meadowlarks

We took advantage of the extra week for this challenge to also study a bird we have spotted, and especially heard, in our neighborhood- the Mourning Dove.

We use the All About Birds website to learn more about each bird, and to listen to their calls and watch video of them. I also read parts from the Handbook of Nature Study and The Burgess Bird Book. We don't have the other guide books being used by Handbook of Nature Study, but our studies work wonderfully without them. We do have a 1970's edition of American Birds and a more recent edition of National Audobon Society Pocket Guide (West) which I lay out for the kids to look at while they are coloring. Some days my kids like to draw their own birds, and other days they like to use the coloring pages.

Nyah's GoldfinchAustin's Goldfinch
Working on their Meadowlark pictures- I spied a Meadowlark while driving the other day and it was exciting to be able to identify it!

Working on their Mourning Dove pictures

I love the call of the Mourning Dove! It brings back many happy memories of early mornings and summer evenings in my parents backyard with my kids. Even my son recognized their call from spending time at my parents!

I am really LOVING these bird challenges! At the park this past week I overheard a woman complaining that there aren't have any "good" birds around here, and I couldn't help thinking how sad it is that she feels that way! So far we have only spotted very "common" birds- house finches, robins, mourning doves- at our feeder, but I LOVE watching them! They are fascinating! I love going out early in the morning and listening. I love seeing them sitting on the eaves of the houses- a single bird or couple per house, each calling their hearts out as the sun comes up each morning. I love to hear their calls throughout the day as I make meals, do school stuff, fold laundry, and read with my kids. I love that my 2 year old will sit quietly, watching birds at our feeder, enchanted by all they do. I love watching my older kids quietly sitting by the back door, eating lunch with the birds. I love it when a male and female house finch will sit at our feeder for a time eating and chirping to each other, and quickly flying away together when we come to close. I love that I see the birds everywhere I go, and that I want to learn more about them if we haven't studied them yet.

What a blessing these birds are!!

Birds- Jays & Bluebirds

Jays & Bluebirds

One of the great things about the bird studies is that we are all more aware of birds around us. We watch and listen for them during our outdoor challenge time, but also while we are out walking or at the park, grocery store, or post office, as was the case this week.

We used Cornell's All About Birds site to briefly learn about all the Jays & Bluebirds that are part of the challenge, and then focused on two that are found in our area- the Western Scrub Jay & the Mountain Bluebird. We used the coloring pages listed in the challenge, read about bluebirds in the Handbook of Nature Study, and also read from the Burgess Bird Book. We also watched some youtube videos the Western Scrub jay and found these great pictures of Mountain Blue Birds nest, eggs, and nestlings.

Even though the cornell site says Jays don't frequently eat other bird eggs or nestlings, this is the most interesting fact of the week for my kids, especially after reading the Burgess Bird Book story of Sammy Jay stealing the Chebec's eggs while the nest is unattended.

Our bird feeder is on our back deck, and when the weather is nice-ish I leave the back door open so we can listen to the birds coming and going. We have only ever noticed House Finches at our feeder, but the kids still like to watch and listen to them. Lunchtime gives them the perfect opportunity. At the time of this picture there was a bird on the far side, and my kids would quietly say whenever they saw the tail or head poke around the side, or seeds and husks dropping.



We also decided to learn about a bird we had observed during this week, and we picked the California Gull, which we see everywhere we go- foraging for trash at the store, hanging out at the post office, and flying in a group above the park. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera handy at any of those times! But my parents shared their visit to the river with lots of seagulls just in time for our study!

Austin's (age 7)

Nyah's (age 6)
When we arrived at the post office we also spotted this flock of birds (pictured below) happily feasting on the lawn. I'm guessing they are cowbirds, but my kids couldn't resist trying to catch one, so I didn't get to observe them for long. We plan on learning more about them this next week.We also spent time discussing birds beaks. We used this great website to learn about different types of beaks- there are 12 different bird beaks shown and when you put your mouse over the picture it tells you what kind of bird it is and how it uses its beaks. We also compared the beaks of the birds we were studying to this page to see which beak they matched best, and discussed if the birds used their beaks in the same way. My kids really enjoyed this part of our Nature Study this week!

Cardinals & Nature Walk

Outdoor Hour Challenge Birds #1- Part B - Part A here

The Northern Cardinal- We studied the Cardinal in the same way as we studied the Robin in part A. Here is the Cardinal page from AllAboutBirds- I arranged the pictures on the computer monitor, read from Handbook of Nature Study and the Burgess Bird Book, and had the kids color the Cornell coloring page and then narrate to me what they learned. According to the range map at AllAboutBirds the Cardinal isn't in our area (northern Utah), which is too bad.

While on our walk today I spotted a Quail dashing across a field, and we also saw some Black-billed Magpie's, which gives us some local birds to learn more about this week.

Nyah's-

Austin's-

We took advantage of a sunny afternoon today to do some Spring 2009 Observations. The older two did their seasonal weather notebook page from Handbook of Nature Study. Before we left we read through the Hearts and Trees spring nature walk notebook page. This helped the kids have an idea of what to look for while we were on our walk. Then we all bundled up for a walk, and as the younger two are showing in the picture below, we really bundled up. Don't let the sunshine fool you, it was snowing this morning, and very windy while we were out.

One of the first signs of spring the kids found was this Forsythia bush. It was such a beautiful, welcome sight! They also noticed that the crabapple trees are getting ready to bloom. The ones we have in our area are white blossoms (I personally think the blossoms stink really bad).

Our next find was this purple Hyacinth that is starting to peak out of the ground.

The kids were very excited about these daffodils because they thought they are like the ones we bought at the store last week, but I think the ones we planted will have orange cups and white petals. This is the flower we are going to learn about for our next weeks Wednesday Flower Study.

We couldn't decide if these are blossoms or leaves, but we loved the color!! Buds on a willow tree
We finally found some really green bushes!! Yeah Spring!!

And what walk would be complete without a stop at the neighborhood park? Even if we are only there long enough for everyone to declare they are freezing and want to go home.