Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Any other young birders out there?

DD, 7, is a very devoted birder and is really, really, into all things bird. Her dad is a very skilled birder and active in the local Audubon chapter, and I'm pretty good, too, so we have no problem teaching her, but we are always looking for more things birdy to do (websites, activities, books...we are always looking for more books). She has asked when she can go to "birding summer camp"--Googling doesn't turn up much. She has life lists on ebird.org and participates in Backyard Bird Counts, Christmas Bird Counts, etc. We also have a very active birdfeeder set-up in the yard.

My kids are into other things (such as marine mammals, which are in short order in the center of the country!), but there are some programs for kids who are into birds around here and I wonder if there might be something similar close to where you live. For instance, the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory has classes for homeschooled students: http://www.rmbo.org/v2/web/Education/co_homeSchool.aspx

and the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, which rehabs birds of prey, allows kids aged 11 or so and up to volunteer with a parent supervisor. Do you have a raptor rehab program locally where you could check into volunteering?

Cornell ornithology lab's Citizen Science programs!

Citizen Science at CLO

We participated in FeederWatch for years. It's a lot of fun, and you can pick up nearby sites other than your own yard if you are interested.

Along the same lines as raptor rescue, local spca or animal control will know where your closest wildlife rescue is. Depending on the state's regulations, wildlife rescue places may have volunteer training lessons in the spring and allow you (and DD could assist) to foster a baby bird (countless numbers of songbirds, starlings, etc are turned in by good samaritans each spring). After they fledge they are returned to be released.

By the way DS really enjoys the Cornell website you mentioned to us back a month or so ago.

After going to the desert a couple weeks ago and seeing a bunch of great birds there DS has now announced he "really needs" to go see Africa. Me too!

Polly

DD8 and I have gone to several park birding classes. We have feed the chickadees by hand. They also have taxadermy birds at the classes. It is such a wonderful experience.

Just a couple of ideas for you that I've seen... Bird clocks at each hour make the corresponding bird chirp. There are some books that have bird chirp buttons.

http://enature.com/fieldguides/intermediate.asp?curGroupID=1
This site has a great reference for nature including the birds.
Check out the frogs too. You will be amazed how some of them sound.

Here's a magazine. It's for adults but the pictures alone are worth it.

Happy Birding

DS10 is very into birds and has been for about 2 years now. He got me into bird watching too (I was more of a plant person). My son and I just finished the Backyard Bird Count and did the Christmas Bird Count with the local youth birding group here. He just started a life list on ebird and keeps track in his Peterson Field Guide. I would recommend the Ranger Rick Naturescope Birds, Birds, Birds book. I found it at our library and it has activities, puzzles, and lots of info. I'd have to ask DS for more books and websites (he always seems to find loads online). I know that the BBC did an excellent video series of birds (can't recall the exact title at the moment). As far as birding camps there might be some offered by Audubon (I know there are some on the east coast) and perhaps you could talk to nature societies in your area for ideas. If you'd like to send me a private message we can continue chatting.

Yes, we do Project Feederwatch. DD's little notebook for that is so adorable. We do know the local wildlife rehab person, also, but she's kind of...odd. I really doubt she would be open to someone as young as DD.

We have checked out so many bird books at the library and have tons of guides around, including the birdsong one where you press a button to hear a call. She has also seen some of the Life of Birds series referred to above. Gosh, maybe I'm doing a better job than I thought. She is just hungry for more. More websites would be awesome.


Cool! It is a really nice site.


OMG, she would absolutely be over the moon for something like this. Too bad we are hundreds of miles away! (well, she is also not homeschooled) I need to find stuff like that, yeah.

D15 and I have monitored a bluebird trail together for the last 8 years. Last year she entered the data in Cornell's NestWatch database.

onthegomom,

i was so happy to see the enature.com site (thank you for the rec!), which i've never seen before, that i started a thread in the resources forum for science websites... any other sites you love?

Beak

Oh, also: if anyone has any links to sites where DD could do bird ID quizzes that are not super-easy (eg, robin or blue jay) but not really hard/designed for advanced adult birders (eg, different sparrows seen from below), that would be super-awesome. She is good, but she is not versed on different immature gull plumages yet.