Christmas Bird Count for Kids!

Transcription

1 Christmas Bird Count for Kids! The Christmas Bird Count is a popular annual tradition where the public spends a day observing and counting birds in their hometowns, then submits their observations to Bird Studies Canada and other scientists who study bird populations across Canada. This year, we want to start a new holiday tradition by inviting our NatureKids Clubs to participate in a Christmas Bird Count for Kids! The Christmas Bird Count for Kids is an easy and fun introduction to birds and bird identification, and a great way for families to get outside together in the winter! This activity guide includes suggestions for planning your event, optional activities you can do with the Kids, and instructions for how to tally and submit your Christmas Bird Count observations! 1. Planning your Christmas Bird Count for Kids Date, Time, Location You can host a Christmas Bird Count for Kids just like your regular monthly NatureKids Club meetings. When choosing a date and time for your meeting, keep in mind that traditional Christmas Bird Counts are held in December or early January, and that birds are most active in the morning and evening hours. A great location for your Count would be a park or nature trail. You could also experiment with visiting different habitats (like urban areas or bodies of water) to explore whether different habitats are home to different birds. Bird Experts You don t need to be a bird expert to do this activity with your Club! Part of the fun is finding a mysterious bird and leafing through a field guide together to discover what kind of bird it is. If you would prefer to have some bird experts on hand, Nature NB can connect you with some local naturalists who would be more than happy to share what they know with some excited NatureKids. 2. Running your Christmas Bird Count for Kids Running your Christmas Bird Count is fairly simple. Take your group on a birding walk for an hour or longer, and tally the types and number of birds that you observe. Feel free to include some extra birdrelated activities either before or after your walk! Birding Walk Materials and Resources: Field Guides Binoculars Clip boards and pens Observation sheets

2 Prepare your supplies ahead of time. If needed, some binoculars can be borrowed from Nature NB (depending on availability). Explain to the kids that they are going to be participating in a citizen science project today! A note on citizen science: Citizen scientists are really important! Ask the kids to imagine how BIG Canada is. Can they guess how many people live in Canada? (About 35 million). How many scientists live in Canada? (A few thousand). So we don t have enough scientists to study ALL of Canada it s too big! The scientists would have to work 24 hours a day to learn everything about Canada. But lots of citizens live in Canada! And citizens can help scientists learn about Canada by making observations in their backyard or their park or their town and sharing them with scientists. The Christmas Bird Count is a citizen science project that helps scientists learn all about birds, especially the ones that don t migrate south for the winter. Take the kids out to your trail or route and have fun looking for birds! Remember to also listen for birds sometimes you will hear them before you can see them. When you find a bird, ask the kids to help identify it. Use field guides as needed and ask the kids questions about the colour of the bird, the shape of the bird, the size of its beak, the length of its tail, etc. to help identify it. Recording your Observations Use the included observation sheet to record your observations. Keep track of the type of birds you see and the number of birds you see (e.g. 5 black-capped chickadees, 1 herring gull). The observation sheet lists birds that are commonly found in New Brunswick in the winter. How many can you find? Optional Activities Round out your birding walk with some crafts or games! Pine Cone Bird Feeders Collect pine cones with the kids. Fold a piece of twine into a loop and tie it around the top of the pine cone. With a spoon, spread vegetable shortening (e.g. Crisco) or peanut butter (depending on allergies) over the surface of the cone. Roll the cone in bird seed and hang from a tree! You can also cut slices of orange, thread twine through the top of a slice, and hang them as another delicious treat! Find Your Flock Birds use their songs to communicate with each other, and will often find one another by listening to and following songs. Ask the kids to share any bird songs that they know. Choose 4 or 5 common birds (e.g. chickadee, crow, goose, humming bird) and share their songs with the kids, and have them repeat the songs back to you. Tell the kids to choose one of these birds, but to keep it a secret. On GO, the kids will have to sing the song of their bird and try to find others singing the same song BUT, because birds use their ears to find each other and not their eyes, the kids must do this with their eyes closed!

3 3. Submitting your observations Send your Christmas Bird Count observations to the NatureKids Coordinator at Nature NB! Nature NB will submit your observations using ebird, a data collection tool. Nature NB will also compile the results of all the NatureKids Club Christmas Bird Counts across the province, so you can see what birds were found in other areas!

4 BIRD OISEAU TALLY COMPTE TOTAL BIRD OISEAU TALLY COMPTE TOTAL Geese and Ducks Les Oies et Canards Loons, Gannets, Cormorants, Herons Les Mouettes, Gannets, Cormorans, Hérons Canada Goose Bernache du Canada Common Loon Plongeon huard American Black Duck Canard noir Northern Gannet Fou de Bassan Mallard Double Crested Cormorant Canard colvert Surf Scoter Macreuse à front blanc White-winged Scoter Macreuse brune Long-tailed Duck Harelde kakawi Common Goldeneye Garrot à oeil d'or Common Merganser Grand Harle Red-breasted Merganser Harle huppé Pheasants and Grouse Les Faisans et Grouse Ring-necked Pheasant Faisan de Colchide Ruffed Grouse Gélinotte huppée CLUB: DATE: Christmas Bird Count! Recensement des oisequx de Noël! Cormoran à aigrettes Great Blue Heron Grand Héron Birds of Prey Les Oiseaux de Proie Turkey Vulture Urubu à tête rouge Northern Harrier Busard Saint-Martin Sharp-shinned Hawk Épervier brun Bald Eagle Pygargue à tête blanche Red-tailed Hawk Buse à queue rousse Rough-legged Hawk Busse pattue Merlin Faucon émerillon Gulls Les Goélands Ring-billed Gull Goéland à bec cerclé Herring Gull Goéland argenté Iceland Gull Goéland arctique Great Black-backed Gull Goéland marin Auks, Murres, and Puffins Les Guillemots et Puffins Razorbill Petit Pingouin Black Guillemot Guillemot à miroir Pigeons and Doves Les Pigeons Rock Pigeon Pigeon biset Mourning Dove Tourterelle triste Owls Les Hiboux et les Chouettes Great Horned Owl Grand-duc d'amérique Snowy Owl Harfang des neiges Barred Owl Chouette rayée Northern Saw-whet Owl Petite Nyctale 1

5 BIRD OISEAU TALLY COMPTE TOTAL BIRD OISEAU TALLY COMPTE TOTAL Woodpeckers Les Pics Fox Sparrow Bruant fauve Red-bellied Woodpecker Pic à ventre roux Dark-eyed Junco Junco ardoisé Downy Woodpecker Pic mineur White-throated Sparrow Bruant à gorge blanche Hairy Woodpecker Pic chevelu Song Sparrow Bruant chanteur Northern Flicker Pic flamboyant Northern Cardinal Cardinal rouge Pileated Woodpecker Grand Pic Red-winged Blackbird Carouge à épaulettes Songbirds Les Oiseaux Chanteurs Common Grackle Quiscale bronzé Gray Jay Mésangeai du Canada Brown-headed Cowbird Vacher à tête brune Blue Jay Geai bleu Baltimore Oriole Oriole de Baltimore American Crow Corneille d'amérique Pine Grosbeak Durbec des sapins Common Raven Grand Corbeau House Finch Roselin familier Horned Lark Alouette hausse-col Purple Finch Roselin pourpré Black-capped Chickadee Mésange à tête noir Red Crossbill Bec-croisé des sapins Boreal Chickadee Mésange à tête brun White-winged Crossbill Bec-croisé bifascié Red-breasted Nuthatch Sittelle à poitrine rousse Common Redpoll Sizerin flammé White-breasted Nuthatch Sittelle à poitrine blanche Pine Siskin Tarin des pins Brown Creeper American Goldfinch Grimpereau brun Golden-crowned Kinglet Roitelet à couronne dorée European Starling Étourneau sansonnet Bohemian Waxwing Jaseur boréal Cedar Waxwing Jaseur d'amérique Pine Warbler Paruline des pins Yellow-rumped Warbler Paruline à croupion jaune Snow Bunting Bruant des neiges American Tree Sparrow Bruant hudsonien Chipping Sparrow Bruant familier Chardonneret jaune Evening Grosbeak Gros-bec errant Other Les Autres 2