Education Program

Articles

Visit BirdSleuth’s blog to find information and resources related to:

• Citizen Science
• Bird Identification
• Bird Biology
• Outdoor Learning

Books

Birds Without Borders: Investigating Populations, Habitats, and Conservation Needs of Birds in the U.S. and Abroad
Using interactive online maps and real data, 6-12th grade students address questions such as why bird habitat requirements vary from species to species and why habitat protection for some must span states, countries, and continents. Two investigations are available as free downloads.

Citizen Science: 15 Lessons that Bring Biology to Life
This book supports independent inquiry through which 6-12th grade students learn science content and process skills. It offers 15 stimulating lessons you can use to build data collection and analysis into your teaching – indoors or out, in any season, and addressing organisms from bees to whales. One lesson is available as a free download.

Free Lessons

From monthly bird-inspired lessons to full inquiry-based curricula, BirdSleuth lessons encourage students to get outside to explore science through birds and local habitat. Download free lessons.

Kits

BirdSleuth kits and resources encourage 3-8th grade students in classrooms, out of school programs, and beyond to engage in STEM learning by participating in citizen science projects and exploring local habitat. Kits make teaching the lessons easy and fun.

Literature Connections

Trade books can inspire science learning. Find our growing list of books and activities.

Professional development

• Annual BirdSleuth retreat
• Webinars
• A complete list of Ambassador and staff trainings throughout the U.S. and beyond.

Resources for international educators

We strive to connect kids to birds in Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond with resources provided in both Spanish and English.

Videos

Inspire, motivate, and engage your students with free online videos highlighting exciting young conservation scientists and their research.

Home Study Course in Bird Biology

More than 8,500 people have enrolled in the Home Study Course in Bird Biology during the past 15 years, delving into bird biology with guidance from Cornell Lab’s scientists and educators. Learn about bird behavior, ecology, conservation, and many other subjects at your own pace from anywhere in the world, using the Handbook of Bird Biology as your text. The course is written at an introductory college level and is suitable for anyone with a serious interest in learning more about birds.

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Investigating Behavior: Courtship and Rivalry in Birds

Why do birds do what they do? How can we tell what they are doing? This online course uses video, online discussions, and tutorials to help you develop skills and learn concepts that will increase your enjoyment and understanding of birds. Sounds and video are drawn from archives of the Macaulay Library.

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Online Courses

Online webinars and tutorials are now available to feed your hunger for more information about birds. Webinars consist of a live interactive presentation using photographs, videos, sounds, and audience feedback. Each series of five webinars highlights a specific group of birds, including waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors. If you can't attend a live session, the archived versions are also available. The two-part "Be a Better Birder" online tutorial is available to help beginning birders learn how to identify birds on their own time at their own pace. The tutorials focus on how to use size, shape, color, and patterns to identify birds.

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Books & Activities

Choose from books on migration, habitat, adaptations, and conservation—each with related activities and resources.

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Identify Birds

Check out our excellent resources to help you identify birds, including our online bird guide and "Inside Birding" videos.

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Kids Doing Science

Youth can help scientists when they learn to collect simple data about the birds and habitats in their area.

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Educational Games

Kids have fun while learning about habitat, nests, feeding adaptations, and conservation.

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Adelson Library Children's Book Readings

Children and their parents or caregivers meet at the Cornell Lab’s Adelson Library to build their connection to nature through compelling stories and activities. This series features readings from some of the best in children’s nature books, combined with explorations of the Lab’s online and museum resources, hands-on crafts, and interactive games. Featured topics include flight, nesting, migration, habitats, and conservation. Recommended for children in preschool through elementary school.

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Kids Discover the Trail

Each spring, more than 350 fifth-graders from 7 schools in Ithaca, New York, discover the importance of habitat through pre-visit lessons, a field trip to the Cornell Lab, and post-visit activities back in their classrooms. Students learn bird-ID skills, study the habitats in Sapsucker Woods, and explore our Visitors’ Center exhibits. Each class collaborates with students from another school to build friendships before the students enter a common middle school the following year.

Spring Field Ornithology

Each spring for more than 30 years, new and experienced birders have come together at the Cornell Lab to hone their birding skills and view the diverse range of birds in our region. Learn to identify and understand birds of the Finger Lakes region during our eight-week birding course that includes weekend field trips as well as weekly lectures taught by Stephen Kress (vice president for Bird Conservation at the National Audubon Society and director of Project Puffin) and other Lab staff.

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Migration Celebration

This annual, one-day event in early May offers visitors the chance to learn about birds and research underway at the Lab. More than 1,000 visitors each year enjoy interactive exhibits, bird-watching and nest-viewing walks, bird-banding demonstrations, and children’s games and activities. This local event is one of hundreds held across the western hemisphere in celebration of International Migratory Bird Day, created in 1993 by the Cornell Lab and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center to raise awareness of bird migration and conservation.

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