Birdwatching: New Jersey Backyard Birds (with Kids & for the Kid in all of Us)
One of the easiest ways to involve your children in nature is Backyard Bird watching. Here you'll find tips for teaching them about birds, and resources for you and your family to learn more & to have a new source of entertainment (that sure beats t.v.)!
I've listed below the major backyard birds of Northern New Jersey. This way, you'll have an easy-to-find source of info for you & your kids.
[This photo was taken by fizgig777 and posted here on GardenWeb.com.]
Feed the Birds
On Christmas Day -
And learn who is
a Cardinal, and who is
a Woodpecker.
Give the Gift of Knowledge,
Fun & Exploration!
(see below)
Bears & Birdfeeders
Do you live in a woodsy area that has bears? If so, how do you manage your birdfeeding?
Best Advice from Bird Watching Bliss
Whatever advice you want about watching, feeding, or homes for birds, you'll be sure to find here.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byKids love nature - how to teach kids everything with Bird Watching
Backyard bird watching is a perfect way for kids to experience and interact with nature. Let them learn about their surroundings. Let them create things for the birds to use and eat. Let them track their discoveries. Let them write stories about their experiences. Let them read and listen to captivating antics and songs. Let them sit, enraptured in stillness and wonder, by the coming and goings of their new=found feathered friends.
If you haven't noticed already, you just covered reading, writing, math, social studies, science, art, music, and spirituality.
Need I say more?
2 Kid-Friendly Bird Books you'll want to have
Backyard Bird-feeders
CARDINAL (Northern Cardinal)
Cardinals seem to show up more in the winter. And thank goodness they do! They add bright splashes of color to an otherwise monotonous gray landscape.
The dull gray Cardinals are the females or the youth.
Cardinals are skittish around our birdfeeder - and definitely prefer the big seeds, high quality stuff.
Takiela's Field Guide Basics (see book above) says:
Size: 8-9"
Nest: cup
Migration: no
Food: seeds, insects, fruit, will come to seed feedes
Notes: Male feeds female during courtship. Latin name means "important."
Tell us about your backyard birding experiences!
(or if you just want to leave a note if you thought this lens was helpful or will help you backyard birdwatch with your kids!)
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Reply
- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen May 21, 2009 @ 5:44 pm
- Hi,
My name is Elizabeth Jean Allen and I am the new group leader for the Nature and the Outdoors Group.
Welcome.
Lizzy
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Reply
- CoolFoto CoolFoto Feb 28, 2009 @ 3:32 pm
- You are so good at bird identification please visit my What is the name of this bird? lens www.squidoo.com/identify-birds . Lensroll to that lens.
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Reply
- naturegirl7 naturegirl7 Dec 13, 2008 @ 7:41 am
- Very nice lens and educational, too. It's never too early to introduce children to our beautiful native fauna and bird watching is a great place to start. Welcome to the Naturally Native Squids group (http://www.squidoo.com/groups/naturallynative ). Don't forget to add your lens link to the appropriate plexo and vote for it.
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Reply
- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Dec 9, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
- Thank you for joining www.squidoo.com/groups/woods. I enjoyed reading your lens. Thank you for opening my eyes to new information and ideas.
Please feel free to add as many lenses as relate to the theme and then add them to a plexo. If you don't find a plexo that fits your lens just email me.
Please feel free to grab any of these plexos to add them to your lenses.
Don't forget to visit the other lenses in the group.
You can add any of your lenses that are in the Isle of Squid to the last plexo. Please remember to visit the Isle of Squid lenses and review them.
I believe that each of these connections will improve the ranks of all of our lenses.
Evelyn
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- Tiddledeewinks Tiddledeewinks Aug 21, 2008 @ 2:29 am
- We have woodpeckers, humming birds, goldfinch, chickadee, robins, cardinal, bats, mourning doves and more in our garden.
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How to Build a Simple Bird Feeder Video
Tips for Making your Kid-friendly Backyard Bird Feeder
- Notice I didn't show a peanut butter pine cone feeder video? Because peanut butter pinecones usually make it through a few rains, but then get pretty disgusting
- You could use a bleach bottle, but the clear 2 liter bottles or clear big juice bottles work better.
- I don't recommend making all 4 holes like in the video because too much rain gets in and makes the seeds soggy & then moldy; plus the wind will spill too much out.
- I recommend 1 hole on each side.
- I also recommend doing something to give the birds a perch to sit. Either tape-over the jagged plastic bottom edge of the hole. Or, cut 2 small slits or side holes next to the big opening, and run 2 dowels through the holes on opposite sides of the bottle, to get the birds a perch. We did this latter idea, and it worked very well. We used a CLEAR large apple/grape juice bottle and it lasted for a long time!
- These home-made feeders are easy for the kids to fill up with just a simple scooper or paper cup.
- I recommend hanging it where you can reach it easily so the kids (or you) can fill it up easily.
- If you have chipmunks, the kids will love watching the chipmunks sitting completely INSIDE the bird feeder!
- Of course, squirrels come with the territory. Not much you can do there. Some commercial feeders do better keeping their pesky noses out. But the kids really treasure the ones they made more - plus, the kids actually enjoy yelling at the squirrels to "get away" from the birds' food!
- But so do racoons & bears. So, we take our bird feeders in at night. We didn't used to do this until . . . 1 racoon came the 1st night, then 2 the 2nd night, . . ., until the 4th night when 4 racoons were lounging on our 10' high deck. Our daughter still talks about the racoons who ran off with every last bit of every bird feeder we had. We bring them in now.
- Definitely have the kids paint and decorate the bird feeder. Let them go wild! Get a bag of stuff from the discount store, those bags with shapes of foam, sequins, pom poms, sparkly things, etc. Have them use poster paint & glue the stuff & string onto the bird feeder. You'll be the hit of the neighborhood!
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by TheresaMarkham
Theresa A. Markham, Esq. loves living in scenic Northwest New Jersey with her husband, Chuck, and daughter Zoe, who are visited by her GWU-colleg...
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