TOPICS:  Birds, ecology, behavior

LEVEL:  Middle and high school

TIME:  45 minutes.  You may wish to assign this activity as an independent project.

ADVANCE PREPARATION: In autumn, one or more bird feeders should be located where they can easily be seen by students.  Feeders may be attached to a windowsill, fixed on a pole, or hung from a tree.  Keep the feeders filled with a mixture of sunflower seed and finely cracked corn.  In order to insure a sufficient variety and number of birds coming to the feeder, provisioning should begin in late autumn or early winter .

MATERIALS: Suitable guides include Peterson's Field Guide to Eastern or Western Birds, Peterson's First Guide to Birds, Golden Guide to Birds, Golden Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America and Audubon Field Guide to Birds.  (Many of the Non-game Wildlife Programs have published posters of birds that attend feeders. This would be an alternative, painless, way of teaching most of the species likely to be seen.) Biome maps are available in many life science textbooks .

INTRODUCTION: Define and discuss the concepts of biome and habitat with your students before doing the activity .

PREDICTIONS: In class discussion, encourage creative, logical, and critical thinking.  We recommend that you introduce the following ideas if they are not suggested by students:  Winter distribution of birds depends primarily on food availability.  Insectivores (except bark gleaners like woodpeckers and nuthatches) usually migrate to warmer climates while seed and fruit eaters remain or migrate shorter distances.  In most northern regions, some birds are residents, some move into the region from colder regions, and some migrate out to warmer climates .

STEP B: Have students count and identify birds for 2 to 20 min, until an adequate sample is obtained.  As an alternative, you may wish to make short observations of species present over several days.  At the beginning of the count period in step C, have students record the number of birds by species already at the feeder using tally marks (||||).  During the count period students should COUNT birds ARRIVING at the feeder and IGNORE all birds LEAVING the feeder.  For example, a bird that was present initially, then leaves and returns, should be counted as 2 bird visits .

STEP D: Biomes to consider are tundra, taiga, deciduous forest, grassland, desert, mountain, western rain forest, tropics.  Habitats to consider are forest, shrub, open field, marshlands.

OPTIONAL:  You may wish to have students make other observations at the feeder such as signs of aggression, feeding location preference (ground, feeder), seed preference, or the effects of weather and time of day on bird visits. 

QUESTIONS:  See next page.

QUESTIONS 5-9 require higher order thinking skills.  We recommend that you discuss these questions with your class before having students write out their answers .

2-4. Answers will vary, depending on species observed.  See Winter Bird Teacher Background .

5. To allow time for the birds to find the new food source.  The birds will quickly learn to depend on the new food source .

6. Bird population size; regularity with which feeder is provisioned; seed type; location of feeder in terms of habitat (lawn, forest) and microhabitat (protection from weather, predators); availability of other food; amount of snow; latitude; altitude .

7. Migration consumes much energy.  Residents have first choice of territory in spring.  The bird remains in home range throughout year, so the risk of being caught in its familiar environment by predators may be lowered .

8. Migrants follow food supplies which is greatly diminished in northern winters.  Migrants remain in a more favorable temperature regime.  You may wish to discuss the differences between seed and insect eating birds .

9. Birds that are specialized to feed on fruit or on core seeds are rarely attracted to feeders.