The Big Day

GRADES: 4-7

SUBJECTS: Science, Language Arts

OBJECTIVE: Students will be able to:

• recognize and know more about the diversity of songbirds in their natural environments;
• relate how the structure and behaviour of different songbirds may give an advantage in surviving and reproducing in different environments; and
• perform various aspects of scientific field work including observing and recording information.

METHOD: Students will go on a field trip to at least two different songbird habitats and identify and compare the birds that they see in each.

BACKGROUND

There is no easy way to learn to recognize birds. It takes experience, practice and patience. This activity is designed so that, with the help of a good field guide and a pair of binoculars, students can work together to make the task less intimidating. Of course, you might consider contacting a local naturalist to help with the identification. But keep in mind that the students will learn much more if they do the identification on their own, than if they are simply told which bird they are looking at. The process of identifying a songbird is as much a process of deciding what it is not as it is determining what it is. For example, more than 30 kinds of warblers occur in British Columbia but no more than a third of them occur in any one part of the province. Therefore, concentrating on the birds in your region will significantly reduce the number that the students will need to recognize.

Bird watchers use the term Big Day to refer to a trip in which they set out to find as many different bird species and as many of each species as they can. With the proper research and preparation, this field trip will definitely be a Big Day.

Identifying Songbirds

Identification begins with the obvious - colour, shape and size. Further observations should involve behaviour, nesting information and habitat. Colour is not limited to feathers. The colour of the legs, feet, bill and eyes are often important clues. Size can be specific, such as the actual length of a bird, or can be stated relative to a familiar kind of bird (larger than a house sparrow). Three common birds that can be used for comparison are the crow, robin and sparrow. As for shape, such things as long, short, pointed or rounded wings; long, short, rounded, forked or square tail; long or short legged; round-headed or crested and long-necked or short-necked are all useful indicators of shape. Describing the songbird in more detail involves getting to know the names of the parts of the bird. Study the following sketches of a typical songbird and get to know where the various parts are and the words used to identify them. Click on the following images to open up the full-sized versions.

Behaviour can be very helpful in identification. For example, the upright stance and depressed tail of the flycatcher, easily separates it from a warbler which usually perches with its tail forming a straight line with its back. Vireos, which look much like warblers, can be separated by the deliberate way they feed. They sit quietly, peering about and only moving when they find an insect. Warblers are active, fluttering and darting about continuously as they search for food. If a nest is found, keep a description of the nesting materials and the number and colour of the eggs, if any. This information may also help in identifying the bird.

Different songbirds inhabit different habitats. Students should visit at least two different habitats so they can make this observation for themselves. Possible choices include forest edges, urban areas, fields around farms and near water bodies. These habitats are different enough that students should see a definite difference in the birds that they find. In this activity, songbirds will be observed in their natural environment, not at a feeder as in Activities & : Songbirds Need to Feed. For this reason, it is important to record detailed information on their location. Students should be careful to note things such as where in the forest the songbird was seen, in the treetops or on the ground. In urban areas they should notice if the songbird was found in residential gardens and shrubs, around parks or around concrete and automobiles. See Activity : Songbirds Need to Feed: Intermediate Version for more information on layout and content of a scientific field notebook.

Etiquette in the Field

There are a few things to keep in mind when looking for songbirds in their natural environments:

• It is important to use caution and have respect for the environment. Try to leave the natural environment as it is found, with as little impact as possible.
• The best way to find a bird is often to search in small groups and be as quiet as possible. The best way to watch a bird is to stand still and stay very quiet.
• Do not disturb the area around a nest. Surrounding vegetation may be concealing the nest from predators or sheltering it from wind and rain.
• If a bird looks agitated, move away - you may be keeping it from getting to its eggs.
• Obtain permission before entering private land. · Do not handle eggs or nest - your scent will remain behind and may cause the mother to abandon the nest.
• When visiting marshes, be careful where you step since there are a lot of ground-nesting birds.

MATERIALS

• Binoculars (if available)
• Notebooks, pencils & erasers
• Field guide for birds

PROCEDURE

1. Discuss important observations for identifying songbirds: colour, size, shape, behaviour, nesting information and habitat. The students should be familiar with the body parts of songbirds.

2. Discuss field etiquette and the format for field notebooks.

3. List common songbirds in your region using the map in "Where's that Bird You Heard ". Each student should choose one or two songbirds from the regional list and become a "specialist" on their bird(s). Encourage them to learn all of the identification features listed above and record them in their field notebook.

4. Choose at least two different habitats to visit during the field trip. Some possibilities include forest edges, urban centres, fields around farms and marshes. Before going out into the field, discuss as a group which songbirds you expect to find in these habitats, where you might find them and where to look for nests of these birds.

5. Divide the students up into groups of five or six, making sure that each member of the group is a specialist on a different songbird. The groups can separate in the field (with the proper supervision, of course); smaller groups will be less noisy and more likely to see birds. They are now prepared to go out into the field with their notebooks and pencils and search for songbirds and their nests. Students should keep in mind that they may not be able to identify a songbird that they see but if they make detailed notes in the field, they can identify the birds back in the classroom with the help of a good field guide or a local specialist.

6. Back in the classroom, students identify the songbirds they saw and share their discoveries with their classmates in oral presentations. Compare the birds found in the different habitats and discuss how they are adapted to their habitat.