Does your child love watching the birds? Or are you trying to encourage your little ones to spend more time in nature? Either way, lending a helping hand to birds on their twice annual migration is a fun and educational project for kids!
Why Help Migrating Birds?
Every spring and fall billions of birds take to the skies. And every year millions of them do not make it to their destination. Some of these losses are natural of course, but many are not. Human impact on the planet plays a big roll in how many birds do not get to finish their migrations. But if humans can hurt, they can also help. And this is something that is well worth teaching to our children. The world is in need of as many caring, helping, humans as it can get. So lets start teaching the next generation how to be the best caretakers they can be of the world that they will some day inherit!
Hands-on is one of the best ways to learn. Hands-on has far more impact than learning from a book or a tv show. So here are 6 great hands-on activities that kids can do to help the migrating birds every spring and fall!
1) Feed The Birds
This is probably the most obvious way to help birds, and it is certainly easy to do! But it is also one of the most effective. The more people take over natural habitats, the harder it is for birds to find food. This is something kids can easily understand. As is the fact that offering a supplemental food source for birds when they need it the most is a good thing. Lending a helping hand goes a long way to making sure these birds reach their destination. Your kids can feel good about directly helping more birds survive their migration.
And feeding the birds can also be turned into a more detailed learning experience. There is more to feeding the birds than just grabbing a bag of birdseed at Target and throwing into a bird feeder. Some topics for discussion are:
-What kind of birds migrate through your home area?
-What kinds of food do these birds eat?
-Why do they eat the kind of food that they eat?
-And what is the best way to feed it to them?
For example: At our home, we get a lot of Goldfinches migrating through. All finches have short thick beaks, which evolved to help them crack seeds. But they also eat fruits and vegetables. So feeding the finches can include both a seed mix, and if you like, some chopped up fruits and vegetables. And we also have lots of hummingbirds migration through. Hummingbirds need nectar to eat and a special type of feeder to eat it from. (We have for-kids YouTube videos about how to make your own Hummingbird Food, and how to make Pinecone Birdfeeders, check them out!)
2) Turn off the lights!
This one is much less obvious, but more important that most people know. And it is a good one to teach to children. (We also have a for-kids YouTube video all about why turning the lights off is good, check it out!)
Another little known fact is that most birds migrate at night. This is because there are fewer predators and the air is cooler and smoother (less turbulence). But in order to navigate after dark, birds use a combination of natural structures like lakes and mountains, and they also use the moon and stars. But people have a habit of lighting up the night as much as possible. And that is a problem for birds.
Birds have evolved to navigate by the only lights there are at night, but now thanks to people the moon and stars are not the only nighttime light source. Light pollution can steer birds off track and cause a lot of confusion. This is a waste of valuable energy and time. And many birds end up flying straight into lit up windows.
But this problem has a simple solution… turn off the lights! In fact, there is a movement already taking place to go “lights-out” during migration seasons. Dozens of North American cities are already joining in. And you can too!
– Turn off any unnecessary outdoor lights at night.
– Or put motion detectors on outdoor lights so that they are only on when needed.
– You can also put a shield over lights that do need to stay on all night so that the light only hits the ground and doesn’t point up toward the sky.
– And lastly, close the curtains after dark so that your indoor lights stay indoors.
Kids can have fun becoming enforcers for this one. Try putting little kids in charge of reminding parents to turn off those extra lights! And kids can also teach the neighbors about this problem. What kid doesn’t like turning the education tables upside down and becoming the teacher? And the side effect is more people with knowledge about migrating birds. Win-win!
3) Decorate your windows
As mentioned earlier, lots of birds end up flying straight into windows. This problem isn’t limited to migration season, but the occurrence does seem to increase when the birds are on the move. But the solution to this one is simple also. And can be fun for kids! Just add some decorations to your big shiny windows so that birds don’t mistake it for a wide open place to fly through. Hang up some of your kids artwork in the windows, or create some unique art special for the occurrence. Perhaps make some bird shaped cut outs and let your little ones decorate them. Simple, but fun.
4) Grow a bird friendly garden
This one is, of course, a longer term project. But one that is well worth it! And it is easy to involve kids in the planning and maintenance.
There are two ways a garden can help migrating birds. One, pollinator flowers for hummingbirds (and butterflies), this one is the more obvious of the two. But did you know that most seed eating birds also eat insects? And insects are attracted to gardens. So it may be less obvious, but seed eating birds will benefit from a pretty, flower filled, space too. And a bird feeder or two can easily be added to a pollinator garden.
Involve your kids in the plant picking process. Which flowers do hummingbirds like? What is the difference in perennial and annual. And why are native plants more beneficial to birds and butterflies?
(Perennial means it comes back every year on its own, and annual means it only lives for one growing season and needs to be planted again every spring. And native plants are better for native creatures because they are adapted to these plants.)
Planning and growing an animal friendly garden is a great project for families. And goes a long way toward teaching kids how to take care of the natural places in our world. (For more ideas about growing backyard Pocket Gardens with kids, click here.)
5) Citizen Science
Have your heard of Citizen Science before? (Also called Community Science) This is a new, but quickly growing, branch of science. The idea is simple, and anyone, regardless of education or age, can get involved.
Various scientific entities around the world set up program to collect data about particular research topics. For instance: The Audubon Society has a Citizen Science program called “Hummingbirds at Home“. And the idea is that anyone who sees a hummingbird anywhere, can report that sighting to their program.
The cumulative data is used to research the effects of climate change on migrating hummingbirds. There is concern that the rising temperatures are causing the plants hummingbirds rely on for food during migration to start flowering before or after the hummingbirds migrate. Meaning the birds have less fuel to survive their migrations. Once the problem is understood, scientists can then figure out ways to help solve it. And anyone, kids included, can be a part of gathering the data used to help solve this problem.
Hummingbirds at Home isn’t the only bird related citizen science project that is simple enough for kids.
-There is also eBird by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which collects data on many species of birds for multiple ongoing research projects.
–The Great Backyard Bird Count which takes place for a week each year and only takes 15 minutes of watching and reporting what birds show up in your yard during that time.
–NestWatch which focuses on studying the nesting behaviors of several species of birds. And kids will love watching baby birds in the backyard grow up!
-Report any bird you see with a band around its leg or neck to Banded Bird. Birds are given bands to help with research data. This way it is possible to track not only where a bird species shows up, but where a specific bird shows up. We recently reported a banded Canada Goose we saw on a pond near our house. We received a thank you certificate and information about that goose in return. It turns out the goose is a girl, she is at least 9 years old and was banded only about 3 miles from where we saw her. This shows that she comes back to the same area every year.
There may be other more local Citizen Science projects in your area too. But regardless of which projects you choose to participate in, your data is very useful to science, and participation is a great way to get kids involved in making a difference in the world.
6) Cut Your Plastic Use
And lastly, anyone can help the birds by reducing the amount of plastic they use. No need to tell you that plastic is bad for the world. But it is particularly bad for birds. Little colorful bits of plastic look a lot like tasty berries, bugs, or fish (when floating in water) to a bird. And it is estimated that 80% of all seabirds have ingested plastic. The percent for land birds is not yet known, but there is more and more evidence emerging that shows that land birds are also mistaking plastic for food.
The details of why eating plastic is bad for birds is not really little kid friendly. But it is important for adults and older kids/teens to understand, because knowledge leads to action. (The following paragraph is for parents and older kids only!)
When a bird eats plastic it gets stuck in their stomachs. Meaning they cannot digest it, and it generally does not pass through and get eliminated in feces. Over time the plastics accumulate. Plastic attracts and holds onto toxins, which means the birds are slowly getting poisoned. And if the bird eats too much there is no longer any room left for real food. And the bird will starve to death with a belly full of plastic. It is a gruesome death. And it isn’t only birds that suffer this fate. Sea turtles often come to the same end. And even whales have been found washed ashore with stomachs completely loaded with plastic…. the plastic problem needs to stop!
But even without knowing the gory details, little kids can understand the basic fact that plastic is bad for wildlife. And they can be involved in helping to eliminate the problem. Teaching kids to recycle is a good first step. As is teaching kids to always use the trash can and never drop trash on the ground outside.
But better yet, teach kids to use plastic alternatives. Make their Halloween basket something eco friendly, or use only biodegradable plates and silverware at their birthday party. Try making your family Christmas plastic-free. Or gift your kids toys made out of wood instead of plastic. (And be sure to tell them why!)
And also taking kids on a beach or forest clean up is both fun and sets up good habits for the future. Bring some gloves and/or tongs and make it a competition to see who can pick up the most trash in the shortest time! Then end the day with a dip in the water or a tree climbing contest. Trash clean up can be very fun for kids!
Helping the birds is easy!
It doesn’t match which (or all) of these projects you choose to try out with your kids. Any efforts to lend a helping hand are good for both the birds, and your kids. Kids tend to naturally love animals, and nurturing that natural connection will go a long way toward raising compassionate adults who will make efforts to make sure that they world they live in remains livable both for themselves and for wildlife. Any or all of these projects will help make that happen.
Save It For Later
Love the article and especially the plastic cut, we must have to teach the childrens to protect the environment 🙂
This is so cute! I had no clue turning off the lights affected birds.
It is not common knowledge… yet!
Wow nice topic and tips to save birds. And even greater advice to involve kids in such work.
Thank you
There are such a cool idea. We have a pond behind our home that gets seasonal birds.
That’s awesome <3