Home  Around the neighborhood or in the woods: some insights on birding with kids | Around the neighborhood or in the woods: some insights on birding with kids$22.62 Item # newitem214109236 Product Description Children come prewired with a sense of unrelenting curiosity about the world. It’s no great mystery, then, why they are often so distracted and impatient to focus in on one thing for too long: their minds are struggling to absorb and describe and record bombardments of stimuli, all of the time.
For many kids a bird is just a bird, an interesting creature nonetheless. Wings and pretty feathers for flight, colorful patterns, a beak for eating, claws or talons for perching and walking – that is all a bird is to a child without any deeper explanation or push to learn more. Some may show a proclivity for birding at an earlier age; most need the explanation.
Birds are incredible, eccentric creatures, and birding can be an especially effective platform for introducing children to nature more generally. One of the basic ideas of modern ecology is that of a hierarchy of interconnectedness, of interdependent organisms living and interacting in concert (even when they are trying to kill each other).
Regardless of age, getting children out and into the various ecosystems birds inhabit is a priority. You might first start out by simply taking your children for a walk around the neighborhood. While there may not be a very diverse or numerous population of birds in the neighborhood, simply taking off the blinders we usually have in place will be an effective exercise for tuning the young and impressionable mind into a frequency they’d otherwise ignore. As well, if any birds are spotted on such a purposeful walk, it would be an opportune time to reflect and explain the role that humanity plays in the background and foreground of the lives of urban birds.
In a form of mutualism, residential birds are in a sense obligated to live around human beings for reasons pertaining to the resources which they provide – bird feeders and baths, man made shelter from the element – and in the same breath, humans have a facultative relationship with the birds coexisting in their neighborhoods, meaning they live with the birds not out of some natural obligation or benefit to themselves, but as result of us inhabiting two different niches in the same habitat.
Taking your child camping or for a hike through more remote and wooded areas will provide the seclusion and accompanying silence to begin to cater to a more auditory-focused experience of the birds and nature. Locating a grouping of birds in the midst of song or feeding, have the child take a seat on the forest floor.
Have them close their eyes, and in an act of meditation ask that they listen to the bird-chatter for a while, blocking out all else. This exercise can bring to the fore a whole other aspect of birding that is potentially made impossible in the presence of cacophonous city sounds. Instead, what the child is confronted with the language of the birds, and what curiously flitting foreign dialogues they have.
Getting children to study the details of bird songs and physiology is great; however, igniting the initial flame of interest in birds within a child takes little more than regular exploratory and kinesthetic walks through wilderness and city alike.
|
People Who Bought this Product Also Bought  Juncos are one of those small, winter birds that people throughout the United States love. These birds winter in the United States and during the spring and summer spend their time in the northern portion of the country and Canada. Did you know that you can attract juncos to your backyard by using a garden birdbath? These social little birds are happy to splash around and have fun with you watching from afar.
The Junco
If you hope to attract the junco, offer the right type of bird food, provide a bird bath or alternate water source, and make sure the bird has access to nesting materials in the area. Here are some general tips to get you started:
* The junco is a ground feeder. Platform bird feeders placed on the ground will go a long way in enticing the junco to visit your backyard.
* Make sure to provide them with the right type of bird food. The junco tends to prefer sunflower hearts, cracked corn and millet. Millet seed is the best choice if your primary goal is to attract juncos. Make sure to keep the seed fresh and the supply plentiful.
* The junco will predominantly consume seed but during breeding season you will find them consuming insects. This makes suet a good option as long as you keep it close enough to the ground that the birds will get to it. Of course, having suet close to the ground poses the risk of ants and other creatures getting at the suet as well.
Provide this to the birds and you will be one-step closer to having them in your backyard on a regular basis.
Utilizing the Birdbath
A garden birdbath is one of those extra features that will draw these birds into your garden. Ensure that the birds have access to clean, fresh water for the best results. This works not only on the Junco but is a great way to drive many different bird species into your area. Make sure to choose a bird bath that is shallow, as birds need to be able to reach the bottom of the bath. You also want to ensure that the bottom of the garden bird bath is not slippery. You can do this by adding a few stones to the bottom, which also raises the water level. If you do invest in one, consider those that feature running water as this will lure in the junco and other bird species more quickly and easily.
A garden birdbath is one of the easiest ways to bring these birds into your backyard. What is important, though, is that you keep supplying these items to ensure that the birds keep coming back.
YourBirdOasis.com offers a wide variety of bird food, bird baths, and suet. Check out our bird food supplies here: http://www.yourbirdoasis.com/featured-bird-supplies-bird-food.html
Image of Dark-eyed Junco by Darin Ziegler |  Almost every backyard birder loves spotting a hummingbird feeding from a flower or bird feeder. We are all intrigued with the hummingbird and much of the intrigue comes from this little bird’s amazing physical qualities. Hummers regularly beat their wings between 20 and 80 times A SECOND and 200 times a second during periods of courtship. They can fly up to 60mph and their little hearts beat between 480 to 1,200 times per minute. Unlike most other bird species, the hummer burns approximately 98% of the calories they consume. Fortunately, in North America we have several different vibrant and beautiful hummingbird species. How do you attract hummingbirds to your garden? Think red! Hummers are attracted to bright red flowering plants. Try planting the following: 1. Bee Balm – A gorgeous flowering plant reminiscent of an exploding crimson firework. When planting Bee Balm choose a place a site with full sun to light shade and rich, well-drained soil.
2. Cigar Plant – a long tubular plant with orange-red blooms. At the end of the long tube, is a thin pistil that look like a the flower is sticking out its tongue at onlookers. It withstands heat well and will thrive in full sun to part shade.
3. Trumpet Honeysuckle – an enticing flower available in red, orange, and yellow blooms. This plant will climb well so should be positioned near a fence.
4. Cardinal Flower – was named after the Cardinal, a strikingly-colored bird that commands attention. This plant can grow up to four feet tall in partial shade to full sun.
A garden brimming with vivid colors is sure to capture local hummingbird’s attention. Your garden will zing with life and provide hummingbirds a haven. In addition to planting red flowering plants consider placing a few hummingbird feeders in various spots in your garden. Vibrant flowering plants coupled with hummingbird feeders will increase your chances of luring them to your garden. A hummingbird will look to diversify their food sources and a few bird feeders will aid in that diversification. Please be sure not to use food coloring in your bird feeders.
Don’t forget a water source as well. Bird baths or bird bath misters work wonderfully for hummingbirds. They need a water source like most other wild birds, especially during hot summer days.
Lastly, provide perching areas for your hummingbirds. It may seem like they are constantly on the go, but hummingbirds spend approximately 80% of their time perching.
Happy Birding! |  Winter is approaching and for many of us, this means snow and/or dry weather. For our feathered friends, this season may increase their reliance on bird feeders and birdbaths. Not only do bird use birdbaths to clean up, they will also stop by for a drink of water. By using a birdbath in your backyard, you will attract both your traditional seedeaters, but also others that may rely on insects or berries.
A fountain bird bath will continually cycle the water, and therefore reduce your time spent cleaning and also may prevent freezing. However, if you live in the northern latitudes you can either place a “De-icer,” “Bird Bath Ice Eliminator,” or GulfStream Bird Bath Heater” in your current birdbath, or use an already heated birdbath.
Maintaining a clean birdbath is important in keeping birds around your backyard. In some areas, you may find “red” algae or fallen leaves sustained at the bottom of your birdbaths.
There are several steps you can take in maintaining a clean birdbath:
1) Simply remove the dirty water and debris from your birdbath and refill with clean water.
2) Place the birdbath away from trees or shrubs where leaves may fall into the water.
3) Keep the feeders away from your birdbath. Birds can be voracious eaters during the winter. Seed shells can decompose in stagnant water and cause a mess.
Diseases have become an increasing concern for wild birds. Stagnant water and bird feeders can develop into vectors for disease transmission if not cleaned regularly. In order to clean your birdbath, all you need are gloves, a scrubber, clean water, and chlorine bleach (or equivalent).
1) Dilute 3/4 cup of bleach with 1 gallon of water (wear gloves!).
2) Dump any remaining water out of birdbath.
3) Rinse birdbath with clean water.
4) Scrub (wear gloves!) birdbath for a few minutes and then allow it to sit for a few more (totally around 5-7 minutes).
5) Rinse birdbath 4-5 times with fresh water to remove any residual bleach.
6) Add new water – you have a clean birdbath!
Bird baths are useful to attract a variety of birds and other wildlife to your own backyard. Keep them clean and filled and you will have frequent visits! |
Product Rating and Reviews | |
