Bird Lesson Plans

Jack Mazza

9:00am ­ Meet at the main building at the Arb

9:10am ­ Talk about final project. Next week they need to let me know what they will be following. Any questions.

9:20am ­ Intro to birds!

­contextual information about habitat and how that can influence what birds we see

­show the students how to use binoculars and the bird book

­things to cover: using “field marks” to identify a bird including the bill, shape, color, size, etc.

9:30am ­ Start walking and looking for birds… slowly we will identify and talk about the birds that we see.

10:30am ­ Based on how “birdy” it is we will decide if we should drop down into the riparian area

11:00am ­ Play “Bushtits, Stellar Jays, and Cooper Hawk” Game.

There will be a center area “the bushtits nest.” Mostly everyone will be Bushtits, running back and forth from the edge to the nest dropping off “food for their young” inside the nest. Meanwhile, the stellar jay’s (a few people) are trying to steal the food from the nest.

Bushtits can mob the jays and alarm causing them to drop the food. All the while a Coopers Hawk is flying through eating Bushtits.

Jack Mazza

9:00am ­ Meet at the North Gate of the Farm 9:10am ­ Gratitude/Journal Sharing.

9:20am ­ Start birding. Walk up the dirt road past the persimmon trees then right before the down   garden over to the main field.

9:45am ­ Depending on what we are seeing, this may be a good time to circle up and do the lesson with the specimen:

• Beak Types: The type of bill you see on a bird can allow you to determine a lot of things about its life history and behavior. Some main beak types include: insectivorous, seed­cracking, nectar­feeding, wood­pecking, hooked, and generalist

Specimens: Northern Flicker, Anna’s Hummingbird, American Kestrel, Wilsons Warbler, Western Bluebird, House Finch

11:00am ­ Play “Fire in the Forest” but modify it with characters of the bird world.

Emily Coletta

Learning Objectives:

- Students will understand that birds relay information about an ecosystem as a whole

- Students will learn the five voices of birds

- Students will learn characteristics to look for when identifying birds

- Students will learn common birds of UCSC’s mixed redwood forest 

Background Information:

            Understanding bird language helps a naturalist get a sense of what is happening in the world. This idea is emphasized by deep nature connection advocate Jon Young and affiliates. Listening to bird language is a Core Routine of Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature (Young, Haas, McGown 2010) and is covered in depth in What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World (Young 2012). For this module, some information summarized from the latter text will help the facilitator know what to listen for during class. That being said, the best way to get background information on bird behavior and vocalizations in your area is to go out and hear for yourself what they are saying.

            Young (2012) holds that there are five main voices of birds. Birds have songs. Males principally use songs to defend territory and attract mates. They sing most actively during the spring, during which time courting, breeding, and nesting occurs (23). For a student of bird language, the presence of songs on the landscape are good indicators that the area is safe from predators and disturbance. Young terms the activity of birds during these safe times as “baseline” (22). Songs are just one voice that is present during baseline. Another voice that is present is the companion call. This is a typically quieter call that mates exchange while busy feeding or otherwise engaged to make sure each is there and doing ok. The third voice of baseline is male-to-male or territorial aggression. This occurs during some sort of territorial dispute and is characterized by single species agitation. This single species involvement is important to note, as the harsh outcries of male-to-male aggression may suggest alarm. But, if the other birds are unphased, it is likely just male-to-male aggression. The fourth baseline vocalization is juvenile or adolescent begging. While unable to feed themselves, juveniles in the nest will cry incessantly to their parents for food. When chicks have learned the danger that follows fellow bird’s alarm calls, they will cease their begging calls. Before they learn about the potential for death that accompanies alarms, they may continue to chirp. In this case, their vocalizations are not part of baseline, as they may be crying even when danger is afoot.

Learning the four baseline vocalizations are especially helpful for a student of bird language because then she can then tell when this baseline is broken. The voice that breaks this baseline is called the alarm. As referenced above, birds use an alarm call in response to perceived threats. Birds will use different calls in response to different predators- if they are on the ground or in the sky. They will alarm differently for nest robbers or for aerial predators. Birds may also alarm or relocate when hikers come disruptively and unawarely through the forest. Birds have particular ways of relocating given the kind of disturbance. Those who study bird language can reduce their impact by fox-walking and making their sphere of awareness larger than their sphere of disturbance (Young 2012).

For more detail and audio tracks of alarms and other vocalizations, check out What the Robin Knows (Young 2012). 

Materials:

- Bird field guide

- Students’ individual field guides 

- Binoculars (if available)

Plan of the Day:

Northeast: An Opening

Duration: 5 minutes

            Come down the single track path indicated on the map and walk down the path to the flattened trail below. Gather into a circle and have everyone close their eyes, take deep breaths, and just focus on being there and listening. Let them settle into that for a spell. This exercise both slows down students from their busy days and facilitates a quiet, calm space that birds may feel comfortable within. Have them open their eyes and share something for which they are grateful.

East: Inspire

Duration: 5 minutes

            Here, you can tell a story wherein you were able to use bird language to learn about the goings-on of a natural place. In addition to this story, you can say something like this: oftentimes, when we see animals, they are walking away from us, startled. But, what if you could walk right up to where a fox has bedded down from the day and watch as she sleeps? How could you do this? By listening to the birds. Birds are the secret messengers of the forest. Birds know everything that is happening in the forest: this is because their life depends on it. By getting to know the ways in which birds communicate with one another, we can get in on their secrets and in turn, see and experience more wildlife. We can also gain a greater understanding for how the whole ecosystem operates.

Southeast: Activate and Direct: Mind’s Eye Work and Owl Eyes

Duration: 10 minutes

            Explain that in order to understand the language of the birds and what they are telling us about a place, it helps to be able to identify the birds you see or hear. But, birds move quickly and you have to be able to see identifying characteristics if you want to know what that bird is. We are going to play a game to start to practice our Mind’s Eye Imagining.

            Line students up in two lines facing one another. Give them 15 seconds to really take in the other person’s appearance. Then have them turn around and change one aspect of their appearance. Have them turn back around and tell one another what the other changed. After everyone has guessed, students turn around again. This time, ask each student something very particular about their partner: is she wearing earrings? Which side is her hair parted? What color are his shoelaces? What does his shirt say? And so on.

            Have the two lines merge into a circle. Students put their palm out as if they are a waiter towards the center of the circle and walk clockwise. Can you see the whole group by softening your focus into wide-angle vision/owl eyes and turning your head towards the center of the circle?

            Explain that now that we have sharpened our mind’s eye and our physical eyes and have softened our disturbance, we will walk down the ravine and look for birds along the way and in the quarry.

South: Focus

Duration: 1 hour

Bird Search:

            There is typically a wet portion of the trail near the gathering space where a storm drain empties into a culvert. Birds bathe and drink from this area. You can start there on your bird search and move East down towards the quarry. Upon finding a bird that everyone can see, start to ask identifying questions about the bird- i.e. how big is it? What is the beak size? What is the beak shape? What might this beak size and shape be good for? What is the coloration like? What behavior is it exhibiting? What sounds is it making? Then, bust out a field guide and start looking for the bird- did it look like this? Or more like this? What can this bird tell us about our environment (i.e. it is full of insects, it has seeds, it has a lot of cover, it has ground nesting sites etc)?

            Repeat with other birds you see- how are these ones different from the others?

Bird Language Sit-Spot:

            “Just the presence of particular birds can tell you about the environment. The behavior and language of the birds can tell us even more finely grained information about the environment. In order to begin to understand their language, go find a spot here in the quarry where you think you’ll be able to see and hear birds. Sit there and listen and watch. Answer these questions- what do you think the birds are saying and what kinds of vocalizations are they making? What do the birds do when you approach them? How do they respond to other disturbances? What do you notice changing the longer you sit there?”

            Coyote call students back from sit-spot after 15-20 minutes. Ask them about what they heard. See if any of their observations represent one of the five voices of the birds. Ideas you can cover in the discussion: baseline (what does it sound like in a given place? how long does it take for the birds to calm back down into baseline?), disturbance (who was making the disturbance and how did the birds respond? which birds came back first? which birds were more shy?), juvenile begging, alarms, songs, male-to-male aggression, and companion calls. 

Southwest: Take a Break: Play Jays and Juncos  

Duration: 10 minutes

            As a means to empathize and embody birds acting and vocalizing in their environment, play Jays and Juncos. In order to play Jays and Juncos, you as facilitator have a bag of food (like popcorn kernels, or dried lentils). For a group size of 12, ask for two volunteers to be Jays. Outfit the Jays with two big cups. Ask for 9 to be Juncos. Give partner pairs of Juncos little Dixie cups- these are their nests. Ask for one volunteer to be a Cooper’s hawk. During the game, Juncos go out in surrounding area and hide their Dixie cup nests. While Juncos are hiding their nests, the Jays close their eyes. Then, Juncos come up to you and make bird sounds to get a kernel of food. They are to take this kernel of food and deliver it to their babies in their nest. Juncos have to be careful how they get back to their nest, however, because the Jays are watching them. Jays, as nest robbers, can come to a Junco nest and empty out the food and babies into their big cup. Jays then take the empty nest and drop it to the floor. All the while, there is a Cooper’s hawk flying around the game area. The Cooper’s hawk can eat anybody, so Jays and Juncos alike have to be aware. The Cooper’s hawk tries to tag Jays and Juncos to eat them. Jays and Juncos can avoid being eaten by either running or by diving to the ground. If tagged, Jays and Juncos have to sit down and count to 30. During the game, no human language is allowed. Birds can communicate about coming predators or nest robbers by alarming.

            Debrief: How did you feel during the game as each of the characters? What did you learn?

West: Gather and Share

Duration: 1 hour

           During the Experiential Ecology Club, students have been tasked with a hypothesis project wherein they ask and answer, through direct observation, a natural history question. This module, scheduled for the last meeting, allots each student 3-5 minutes to present their findings.

Northwest to North: Integrate and Introspect

Duration: 5 minutes

            Here is a good place to read a poem about nature connection or another text that speaks to you. A poem that I find especially enjoyable and relevant to nature connection is Mary Oliver’s “Terns”, which is written below. Any material or questions you have that will inspire introspection and integration will work here.

Terns

Don’t think just now of the trudging forward of thought,

but of the wing-drive of unquestioning affirmation.

It’s summer, you never saw such a blue sky,

and here they are, those white birds with quick wings,

sweeping over the waves,

chattering and plunging,

their thin beaks snapping, their hard eyes

happy as little nails.

The years to come- this is a promise-

will grant you ample time

to try the difficult steps in the empire of thought

where you seek the shining proofs you think you must have.

But nothing you ever understand will be sweeter, or more binding,

than this deepest affinity between your eyes and the world.

The flock thickens

over the roiling, salt brightness. Listen,

maybe such devotion, in which one holds the world

in the clasp of attention, isn’t the perfect prayer,

but it must be close, for the sorrow, whose name is doubt,

is thus subdued, and not through the weaponry of reason,

but of pure submission. Tell me, what else

could beauty be for? And now the tide

is at its very crown

the white birds sprinkle down,

gathering up the loose silver, rising

as if weightless. It isn’t instruction, or a parable.

It isn’t for any vanity or ambition

except for the one allowed, to stay alive.

It’s only a nimble frolic

over the waves. And you find, for hours,

you cannot even remember the questions

that weigh so in your mind.

(Oliver 2005: 34-35)

Bibliography

Oliver, Mary

            2005 New and Selected Poems, Volume Two. Boston: Beacon Press.

Young, Jon, Ellen Haas, and Evan McGown

2010 Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature. Shelton: Owlink Media Corporation.

Young, Jon

2012 What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.