Description: Follow the journey of Flute, a Wood Thrush, as he migrates from the summer home where he was born in the Belt Woods of Maryland, to his winter home in Costa Rica--and back again.

Activities:

• Review the challenges Flute faced on his breeding ground, wintering ground, and during migration. Make a small card for each and place on a map of N. and S. America to show where Flute met with each of these challenges.

• Use coloring pages (see below under Coloring Pages) to learn the plumage and field marks of the Wood Thrush, along with other neotropical migrants found in the northeastern US in summer: Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Black-and-white Warbler. If you live in the West, try these species (only in the Peterson coloring book): Varied Thrush, Western Tanager, Bullock's Oriole, Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Coloring Pages:

A Guide to the Birds of Sapsucker Woods: Volume 1 Birds of the Hardwook Forest, by Candace E. Cornell and Ron Rohrbaugh. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 52pp. This book has coloring pages with larger images than the Peterson book below, plus Identification Tips and Cool Facts for 40 of the most common forest birds in the Eastern US. Available by ordering from Kids section of the Lab's Online Nature Mall website.

Peterson Field Guide Coloring Books: Birds by Peter Alden and John Sill. Houghton Mifflin Company. 64pp. Smaller coloring images, but covers 262 species found in the US (both western and eastern species) with a short description for each.

Other Resources:

Go here to help Wanda the Wood Thrush complete her journey and learn about migration along the way! An interactive page on the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center web site.

Flying Wild: An Educator's Guide to Celebrating Birds. 2004. Council for Environmental Education. Over 40 fun and educational activities relating to birds. Click here for an overview and ordering information.