Bird Life

Food, Water and Shelter
Camouflage and Vision
Suggested Birding Activities Birding Checklist
Glossary

Plant Life

 

 

 

 

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Science: Bird Life - Suggested Birding Activities

Scavenger Hunt: Explore the Concord River Greenway

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Here’s a fun way to be a successful birder: Take an adventure the Concord River Greenway and explore the different habitats where birds are found.  Make a scavenger hunt out of it!

See if you can find all fifteen of the following and check them off as you find them:

 

1. Find a duck.  ___  
2. Find two bird nests.  ___  ___  
3. Find three trees that produce food for birds.  ___  ___  ___  
4. Find three different bird species with monocular vision.  ___  ___  ___  
5. Find one bird species with binocular vision.  ___  
6. Find a spot on the Concord River where a bird can catch a fish.  ___  
7. Find a squirrel drey (Hint- It looks like a big bird nest, made by a squirrel).  ___  
8. Find three places that a bird can seek shelter.  ___  ___  ___  
9. Find two invertebrates (animals with no backbone) that a bird would eat.  ___  ___  
10. Find two seeds that a bird would eat.  ___  ___
11. Find a small mammal that a raptor (bird of prey) would hunt.  ___  
12. Find a bird that migrates.  ___
13. Find a place where a bird might safely bathe.  ___
14. Find a bird singing a song to its friends and family.  Can you whistle that song? ___
15. Find a bird perching on a tree branch. ___

Activity - Like Water Off a Duck’s Back  

Experiment:

“Certain birds, such as ducks, have oil glands on their rears.  As these birds preen their feathers the oils are spread throughout their plumage allowing them to stay dry, warm, and buoyant.”  

Wax and oil from a bird’s oil gland have similar properties.  Water cannot be dissolved in either wax or oil.  To test this, take a piece of wax paper and a piece of regular computer paper and drop a small amount of water on each piece.  What happens?  You will find that water soaks into the regular computer paper.  Meanwhile, the water on the wax paper will remain as a drop and not soak into it.  Water will not soak into oily feathers and the duck will have an easier time staying afloat.