Discover Schoolyard Birds Resources

• Activity 1: Choose one or more of the following Introducing Birds videos to show your class.
  • Black birds and woodpeckers at the Cornell feeder cam
  • Rock Pigeons flying through city
  • A Cackling Goose swimming surrounded by Canada Geese
  • Pair of Wood Thrush at a nest
  • A female American Robin reinforces her nest with mud
  • Turkey Vulture in flight
• Activity 2
  • Teaching slides, linked above
• Activity 4: Open all of these All About Birds profiles to watch videos, listen to sounds, and see more photos.
  • House Sparrow
  • American Robin
  • American Crow
  • Canada Goose
• Activity 5
  • The You Can Do Participatory Science video explains the basics of participatory science and how anyone can participate. Note: if you have a previous version of the curriculum, the text will say “You Can Be A Citizen Scientist”. We’ve updated the video and language, but general content remains the same.
  • eBird live submission Map

• Activity 1 & 2
  • Teaching slides, linked above

• Activity 1
  • Teaching slides, linked above
  • Copies of the Fly Forward pages – labeled and unlabeled
• Activity 2
  • Teaching slides, linked above
• Activity 3
  • The All About Birds website allows students to do research on their Focus Bird and become an expert on the species

• Activity 2
  • Teaching slides, linked above
  • Bird Behavior Case Study supplemental videos that allow students to look more closely at bird behaviors.
    • Defending Territories
    • Courtship
    • Colonial Nesting
    • Foraging
• Reflect and Evaluate
  • Mystery behavior videos
    • Foraging/feeding: Northern Cardinal, Brown Pelicans, Northern Shoveler
    • Flying: Red-shouldered Hawk, Cedar Waxwings, American Crows
    • Making a nest: American Robin, Cliff Swallow, Ruby-throated Hummingbird
    • Singing: Wood Thrush, Marsh Wren, Veery
    • Defending territory: Northern Mockingbird
    • Courtship: Red-tailed Hawk, Greater Sage-Grouse, Northern Cardinal
    • Colonial nesting: Northern Gannet, White Ibis, King Penguin
    • Cooperative breeding: There are no good videos of this but the article entitled “How Do Birds Cooperate? An Overview of Strategies” describes other species that have this behavior.

No web-based resources needed

• Activity 1
  • The You Can Do Participatory Science video explains the basics of participatory science and how anyone can participate. Note: if you have a previous version of the curriculum, the text will say “You Can Be A Citizen Scientist”. We’ve updated the video and language, but general content remains the same.
  • eBird live submissions map
• Activity 2
  • Teaching slides, linked above
• Activity 3
  • Download several copies of BirdSleuth Investigator to share investigations with your students
  • Curated list of investigations for 3rd-5th graders to read
    • 2020 Edition
      • “Birds in the Cold” (p. 6)
      • “The Effect of Gender on Time Spent Sitting on Eggs” (p. 7)
      • “Do Birds Prefer to Eat in the Morning or the Late Afternoon?” (pp. 10-11)
    • 2019 Edition
      • “Why are the Black-capped Chickadees Falling in Population at Our Feeder?” (pp. 9-10)
      • “Which Birds Go Higher Up Our Tree to Eat?” (pp. 11-12)
    • 2018 Edition
      • “Homemade vs. Store-Bought Suet: Who will win?” (pp. 3-4)
      • “Do Birds Prefer Music?” (pp. 6-7)
      • “Will Pictures of Cats Scare Birds?” (pp. 9-11)
    • 2017 Edition
      • “Do Hummingbirds Prefer Feeders Up High or Down Low?” (p. 3)
      • “Did More Birds Come to the Feeder in the Morning or the Afternoon?” (p. 6)