Below Zero Activities
Age: Grades K - 6
Subjects: Science, Mathematics, Art
Skills: observing, predicting, bird identification, sorting,
classification
Duration: winter season
Group Size: any
Setting: indoors and outdoors Conceptual Framework Reference:
3a, 3b, 3c, 4c
Key Vocabulary: migration, food energy, species
Objective
Students will be able to:
1) Recognize various birds in winter;
2) List some of the food preferences of different species.
Method
Students will conduct an experiment to determine
which foods are preferred by the various species visiting
a platform schoolyard feeder.
Background
Winter makes it hard for birds to find a steady
supply of high energy foods. The best time to start your own
bird feeding program is in October or early November, and
it should be continued regularly until the middle of April.
This is really important in very snowy years, and towards
the end of winter when the skimpy natural food supply has
been depleted.
Various birds have different kinds of beaks
that are specially adapted to eat certain foods. Snowbirds
and redpolls, for example, enjoy smaller seeds, such as millet
and milo often found in commercial wild bird mixes. Grosbeaks
and chickadees prefer larger sunflower seeds, and Bohemian
waxwings and robins devour wild berries and fruit. Suet, the
hard fat available from butcher shops, is ideal for woodpeckers
and nuthatches.
NOTE: Baked goods such as bread crumbs, donuts, and crackers
are a no-no! Not only are these foods unhealthy for birds,
they may also attract unwanted visitors, like raccoons, rats
and pigeons.
Materials
large bag of mixed bird seed; other foods such
as suet, nuts or dried or fresh fruit; strainers, or sieves;
bird identification book; flat, table type bird feeder on
a sturdy pole
Procedure
1) Put up the feeder near classroom windows
early in the fall. Be patient. Depending on where your school
is, or how many other feeders there are in your neighbourhood,
it may take weeks before birds become regular visitors. If
you use suet, it can be hung under the feeder or in a nearby
tree in an empty onion bag. Don't put suet out until freezing
weather arrives, or it will go rancid.
2) Establish a viewing centre where children
can watch the birds without scaring them off. One way of doing
this is to place a cardboard or paper shield over the window,
and cut observation eye holes.
3) Purchase a bag of good quality mixed wild
bird seed. (It will probably contain seeds and grains such
as sunflowers, cracked corn, millet and milo.) Sort the seeds
and grains into three sizes (small, medium and large) using
the strainer or sieve. Divide the feeder into four sections,
and distribute the different sizes of food in each section.
If you like, dried fruit and nuts can go in the fourth section.
4) Watch and identify your feathered visitors,
and determine which are attracted to which food.
5) Discuss why some birds choose different foods.
Are there any similarities between species that prefer the
same foods?
Extensions
1) Explore the relationship between birds and
their beak types to the foods they eat.
2) Discover which of the visitors at your feeder
are native to Canada, and which are introduced "aliens" such
as house sparrows and European starlings. Are any of them
species that usually migrate to a warmer climate in winter?
(Perhaps your feeder convinced them to stick around.)
3) Explore the diet needs of wintering birds.
What foods are high in fats and starch to give them much needed
energy?
4) Starlings and pigeons will sit on a house
chimney to keep warm. List what other human made devices that
birds use to survive our cold climate.
5) Have students keep a detailed record of the
visiting birds and daily weather conditions, and develop graphs
and charts of their findings.
6) Have students note whether more birds visit
after a storm and during cold spells. Records may also be
kept on the different arrival and departure dates of each
species. Probably not all species will stay the whole winter,
and some species will come and go at intervals.
Evaluations
1) Identify the birds that visit the schoolyard
feeder.
2) Name three foods that birds eat in winter.
3) Explain why birds have different kinds of
beaks.
Copyright 1998 by the Canadian Wildlife Federation.
All rights reserved.
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