{"id":1761,"date":"2018-09-20T07:32:14","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T11:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/?p=1761"},"modified":"2025-10-06T12:33:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T16:33:02","slug":"flutes-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/flutes-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Flute&#8217;s Journey: THE LIFE OF A WOOD THRUSH"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"color: #5f6368;\"><i>Flute&#8217;s Journey: The Life of a Wood Thrush<\/i>&nbsp;written and illustrated by Lynne Cherry<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"842\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-01-at-4.29.42-PM-720x842.png\" alt=\"&quot;Flute's Journey - The life of a wood thrush&quot; book cover. Written and illustrated by Lynne Cherry\" class=\"wp-image-4543 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-01-at-4.29.42-PM-720x842.png 720w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-01-at-4.29.42-PM-768x898.png 768w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-01-at-4.29.42-PM-480x561.png 480w, https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-11-01-at-4.29.42-PM.png 804w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 720px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 720\/842;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Topic:<\/strong> Migration<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Description:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through her rich text, accurate description, and beautiful illustrations, Lynn Cherry portrays the life of a young Wood Thrush named Flute and the challenges he endures during his first migration. We follow Flute as he flies thousands of miles \u2013 600 of them non-stop over the&nbsp;Gulf of Mexico \u2013 from his first home in Belt Woods,Maryland, to his winter habitat in Costa Rica, and back again to Belt Woods to breed and raise a family. During his arduous journey, Flute encounters many hazards, some natural, and others man-made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This story is a convincingly realistic tale about the real perils \u2013 from habitat loss to pesticide use, outdoor cats to natural predators \u2013 which are faced by birds every time they migrate. It is also the story of hope, possibility, and the power children have to make a positive difference for migratory birds by reducing the dangers they face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">You can find this book on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0152928537\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0152928537&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=birds0f1-20&amp;linkId=5TGDZSBMRURBJ63P\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Amazon!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-birdpress-accordion accordion\" data-accordion=\"true\" data-allow-all-closed=\"true\"><div class=\"accordion-item\" data-accordion-item=\"true\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"accordion-title\"><span>Activity 1: Taking Flight &#8211; Flying and Migration<\/span><\/a><div class=\"accordion-content\" data-tab-content=\"true\">\n<p>Explore migration with the third lesson in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/feathered-friends\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>Feathered Friends<\/em><\/strong><\/a> resource (available as a free download). In this lesson, students explore the concept of migration. They learn how birds migrate and some of the hazards birds face in doing so.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-birdpress-accordion accordion\" data-accordion=\"true\" data-allow-all-closed=\"true\"><div class=\"accordion-item\" data-accordion-item=\"true\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"accordion-title\"><span>Activity 2: Watch a Bird Migration Video<\/span><\/a><div class=\"accordion-content\" data-tab-content=\"true\">\n<p>Watch Cornell University Naturalist Outreach\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CwIT9pv4khw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bird Migration video<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lead students in a discussion of the facts learned from the video. List these on the board.&nbsp;Ask,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow does Lynne Cherry represent these scientific facts about bird migration in the book, Flute\u2019s Journey?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read the book again slowly, asking students to listen and find in the story where and how these scientific facts are depicted. Then add the plot points from the book where they correspond to the facts learned from the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Facts about bird migration<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Changing temperatures and shortening days are signals for birds to migrate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Plot points in <em>Flute\u2019s Journey&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe shorter days and the dwindling light gave the birds the urge for going.\u201d&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cSeptember came and a cool breeze ruffled Flute\u2019s feathers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-birdpress-accordion accordion\" data-accordion=\"true\" data-allow-all-closed=\"true\"><div class=\"accordion-item\" data-accordion-item=\"true\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"accordion-title\"><span>Activity 3:  Follow Flute\u2019s journey from Maryland to Costa Rica and back again!<\/span><\/a><div class=\"accordion-content\" data-tab-content=\"true\">\n<p>After reading the book aloud to your class just for pleasure, go back and read it with purpose. Have a map of North and South America (either a poster or an image from the Internet) displayed so students can see it. As you read and the names of places that are mentioned, have a student mark or indicate that place in some way (using a sticky note or marker) on the map. You can connect the places with yarn to show the route taken by Flute and include the amount of time that passed between stops along the way.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-birdpress-accordion accordion\" data-accordion=\"true\" data-allow-all-closed=\"true\"><div class=\"accordion-item\" data-accordion-item=\"true\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"accordion-title\"><span>Activity 4: What\u2019s in a Habitat?<\/span><\/a><div class=\"accordion-content\" data-tab-content=\"true\">\n<p>Explore the concept of habitat using the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/feathered-friends\/\"><em>Feathered Friends<\/em><\/a><\/strong> resource. Complete the first activity of the second lesson, <em>What\u2019s in a Habitat?.<\/em> In this lesson, students learn that a good habitat must provide food, water, cover, and space.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-birdpress-accordion accordion\" data-accordion=\"true\" data-allow-all-closed=\"true\"><div class=\"accordion-item\" data-accordion-item=\"true\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"accordion-title\"><span>Activity 5: Habitat Helpers<\/span><\/a><div class=\"accordion-content\" data-tab-content=\"true\">\n<p>Early during Flute\u2019s first migration to Costa Rica, he encounters trouble. Go back and re-read that part of the story to your students (page 9). Ask,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What problem was Flute having? (<em>Where there had once been forest [a habitat in which he could find food, water, and cover], he found only paved roads and suburban development.<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How is he helped? (<em>By the schoolyard habitat improvements made by some school children wanting to help migratory birds.<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What improvement did children make? (<em>They planted a spicebush grove around their school.<\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, using What\u2019s in a Habitat? from the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/feathered-friends\/\"><em>Feathered Friends<\/em><\/a><\/strong> resource, take students on a walk around their schoolyard to evaluate if it has everything birds need. Are there places for birds to find food? Cover? Water? If not, what can students do or add to make it a better place for birds? Children can begin to make a plan to improve their schoolyard.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-birdpress-accordion accordion\" data-accordion=\"true\" data-allow-all-closed=\"true\"><div class=\"accordion-item\" data-accordion-item=\"true\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"accordion-title\"><span>Activity 6: Understanding Migration<\/span><\/a><div class=\"accordion-content\" data-tab-content=\"true\">\n<p>Discuss with students why they think birds migrate. (<em>No matter what ideas they come up with, make sure they understand that it is to find food<\/em>.) Ask if they think all birds migrate. (<em>Explain that birds that can survive on the food available all winter long &#8211; usually, plants, seeds, etc. &#8211; are able to stay in one place all year long. The birds that eat insects, fish, and other foods that are not available in the winter, need to migrate to somewhere they can find food<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use the <strong><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/ebird.org\/map\" target=\"_blank\">eBird Occurrence Maps<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong> to show the difference between certain species of birds\u2019 distribution. (<em>The <\/em><strong><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/norcar\" target=\"_blank\">Northern Cardinal<\/a>,<\/strong><em> a year-round resident in the east, and <\/em><strong><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/lesgol\" target=\"_blank\">Lesser Goldfinch<\/a>,<\/strong><em> year-round resident in the west, do not migrate. The<\/em> <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/robgro\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Rose-breasted Grosbeak<\/strong><\/a><em> is a long-distance migrant. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks fly from North American breeding grounds to Central and South America. Most of them fly across the Gulf of Mexico in a single night, although some migrate over land around the Gulf. Show each bird species\u2019 occurrence map and discuss what the maps mean and how they show each species migration patterns. You can also find the Wood Thrush&nbsp;occurrence map<\/em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/woothr\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/woothr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> here<\/a><\/strong><em>.<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With older students, once they demonstrate comprehension of the eBird Occurrence Maps with their ability to discuss what they see, choose a couple species\u2019 maps that are notably different. Then write a description of the migration pattern of the bird. (You can find these descriptions in the information below the Occurrence Maps. You can also find migration information for each species on our <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/Page.aspx?pid=1189\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">All About Birds<\/a><\/strong> online bird guide, in the Life History section, under the Range maps). Write a description of the bird species\u2019 migration that students can understand without including the species\u2019 name. Then, let students work together to determine which species the occurrence map describes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>White-throated Sparrow &#8211; This is a short to medium-distance migrant. One of the most common birds in the East during the winter, they breed widely across the northern boreal forest. They then migrate south in October. Most birds winter south of their breeding range, in the Southeast and Midwest of the United States and return north in April and May.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Additional Resources:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Lab\u2019s resource, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/attractingbirds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How to Attract Birds to Your Yard<\/a><\/strong>, on the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/Page.aspx?pid=1189\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">All About Birds<\/a><\/strong> website offers tips, tricks and other useful information on attracting birds to your schoolyard as well as how to deal with problem species such as European Starlings and Canada Geese.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/celebrateurbanbirds.org\/learn\/gardening\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gardening<\/a><\/strong> section on the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/celebrateurbanbirds.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Celebrate Urban Birds<\/a><\/strong> website provides basic tips on attracting birds to your yard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn about migration by following Flute&#8217;s journey to Costa Rica. Educators can use these free additional resources to pair with the book  to develop an engaging unit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_birdpress_hero_toggle":false,"_birdpress_hero_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_image_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_style":"default","_birdpress_hero_ratio":"","_birdpress_hero_h1":"","_birdpress_hero_media_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_media_array_id":[],"_birdpress_hero_media_array":[],"_birdpress_hero_media":0,"_birdpress_hero_video_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_video":0,"_birdpress_hero_youtube":"","_birdpress_hero_content":true,"_birdpress_hero_byline":"","_birdpress_hero_byline_bottom":"","_birdpress_hero_button_link":"","_birdpress_hero_button_text":"","_birdpress_hero_button_color":"","_birdpress_hero_date":false,"original_guid":"","_birdpress_hide_search":false,"_birdpress_page_width":"","_birdpress_global_cta":false,"_birdpress_widget_sidebar":"","_birdpress_next_article":0,"_birdpress_next_article_title":"","_birdpress_prev_article":0,"_birdpress_prev_article_title":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_sub_navigation":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_title":false,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation":"","_birdpress_postType":"both","_birdpress_categoryID":0,"_birdpress_tagID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostTitle":"","_birdpress_menuID":0,"_birdpress_menuName":"","_birdpress_listHeader":"","_birdpress_listLayout":"card-display","_birdpress_listColumns":"","_birdpress_maxItems":12,"_birdpress_listPaginate":true,"_birdpress_displaySort":true,"_birdpress_sortOrder":"DESC","_birdpress_sortBy":"date","_birdpress_listID":"","_birdpress_listClass":"","_birdpress_displayImages":true,"_birdpress_displayCaptions":false,"_birdpress_displayExcerpts":false,"_birdpress_attTop":"","_birdpress_attBottom":"","_birdpress_showLogos":false,"_birdpress_post_logo":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"content-format":[],"class_list":["post-1761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-activities-3-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1761"},{"taxonomy":"content-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/k12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-format?post=1761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}