We took some time off from stocking the bird feeders (bird seed is expensive, even when buying it in bulk!) but now that the temps are dropping and moves are starting to come and go more we have once again got our bird feeding station up and running. The girls had a blast this morning watching the birds while they ate breakfast. Sam actually asked if she could take her plate to the floor right by the back door to eat and have a better view!
It is perfect timing that the folks at my work (Aldo Leopold Nature Center) have been passing around (through email) links to these really cool bird videos.
This first one if of a goshawk doing some really cool flying tricks. The tricks that the bird is doing are not things a bird wouldn't normally do in the wild, as the narrator describes, these "tests" are simulating real life flying scenarios that birds of prey do all the time. Some of the things that I talked to/asked Sam and Avery about while we watched this video are
- Pointing out all the different parts of the bird's body; beak, feet, wings, eyes
- Did you see how the bird pulled her wings in to be so small?
- Did you see how she grabbed the tube with her feet and pushed off?
- Did you see how her back feathers spread out so quickly?
- What else do you notice about the bird?
- Do you see how big the birds wings are?
This second video is of an eagle owl that is flying straight at a camera (there is some kind of prey or meat that the owl is trying to get). This video is pretty slow at the beginning but if you just keep encouraging your child to watch the end is well worth the wait! Some of the things I pointed out to Sam and Avery in this one,
- Look at how flat the owl's wings are.
- Do you think your arms are as long as the owl's wings?
- Do you see how the owl moves his wings down and then back up?
- Do you see the legs hanging down?
- Look at how the owl's wings bend just like our arms can bend at the elbow.
- Can you see all the stripes and lines on the owl's feathers?
- What color are the owl's eyes?
- Do you see how the owl is spreading is talons out to grab something just like we use our fingers to grab things?
I am sure there are tons of great bird videos on YouTube these were just brought to my attention this week because of emails going around at work and the girls enjoyed them so much I thought I would share.
Watch them with your kids and leave me a comment letting me know what they thought!
Happy Birding!
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The Nitty Gritty!
Here are some classroom/home extensions that you could do to go along with these videos -
For the first video you could set up some tunnels and other obstacles for your kids to climb through and talk to them about how they can move their bodies in different ways to move through things. For older kids you could keep making the tunnels smaller and smaller to see how much they can adjust and change their body to fit through something.
For the second video you can measure out 6 feet on the ground or wall with tape. The eagle owl has a 6 foot wing span. Have the children compare their arms to the wing span of the owl. Who is bigger? You could also have the children try to pick up different sized and shaped objects with their toes. Are we able to use our toes as well as the owl can? Why does the owl need to have such strong toes (which are really called talons)?
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