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Why are there different styles of nests?

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Bird nest Facts for Kids | KidzSearch.com

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A bird nest is a place where a bird lays its eggs. There are all kinds of nests, from cup nests to digging holes in the ground to simply stuffing some leaves inside the "o" of a McDonald sign. The word can be used as a noun or a verb, as in - a bird nests in a nest.

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Find out about basics & tools

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Birding with Children! Tips on Getting Started

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Tips on watching birds with your kids. It doesn't cost much to give your child a lifetime ticket to the theater of nature.

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Learn how to identify different types of birds.

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Beginning birding with your students? Check out these tips!

A tiny, round bird perches just outside your classroom window. It has a black "cap" atop its little head, white "cheeks," a short bill, and a long, narrow tail. If your school is located in a northern region of North America, your students have surely seen this bird many times. But do they know what it is?

Birds are a part of every child's life, even if only as a part of the background. By teaching your students how to identify some birds, you can help make them more aware of your local biological diversity and more attentive to your local environment in general. Kids love gaining knowledge to apply (and even show off!). To add to the excitement, your students can use their bird ID skills to collect valuable data for real scientists through citizen-science projects! We've found that kids really love helping scientists and are eager to learn more in order to do so, which is why our Most Wanted Birds curriculum scaffolds the citizen-science project.

Bird identification is not nearly as daunting as it sounds. It's like any other skill: practice will make you better. It's best to start at the beginning and gradually build your students' knowledge of birds and bird traits. One of the great things about getting started is that everyone has some kind of basic knowledge of birds. Birds are everywhere! Even if you are a beginning birder, you can probably recognize at least several of the birds in this image:

There are a lot of different species of birds out there-about 10,448, in fact-but don't let this immense diversity overwhelm you!

Here are five tips for turning your students into budding young birders!

1. Start with the GROUPS of birds: Have students make a list of all the birds they can think of to start, then look at birds they already know and compare and contrast them. Find pictures of local birds (or order our Bird ID Cards) and show them to your students. Sort the birds you know into groups: Did you name any hawks? Songbirds? Shorebirds? Owls?

Birds are typically categorized by their shape and physical characteristics. For example, shorebirds have long legs and necks and upright bodies while gulls have short necks and are about as long as they are tall. Dividing birds into groups is an important skill, especially if you plan to use field guides for identification. Field guides group birds by their relatedness to each other, so if you can decide which group a bird is in, you will more easily be able to use field marks to determine which species you are looking at. You can find silhouettes like those seen above at the front of almost any field guide.

Keep in mind that even if you or a student can't quite identify a bird to species, narrowing your identification down from "bird" to "songbird" or "raptor" is an important step. A good place to start is simply to give some background on the general categories of birds. In North America, some of the major categories that most kids recognize include (1) woodpeckers, (2) owls, (3) birds of prey or raptors, (4) ducks, (5) geese (6) shorebirds. Then, reviewing the different parts of a bird and noticing field marks becomes useful.

2. Become a Bird Expert! Give each child in the group one specific bird to focus on. Let your kids become the experts and then let them teach each other! A great way to do this is with Birdsleuth Bird ID Cards. These cards provide details and cool facts about some of the most common birds in your area. If each student in your group knows one bird, then collectively you know as many birds as there are people in the group!

Some teachers have also been successful helping students learn bird ID by choosing one or a few "birds of the day" for the students to learn. Consider showing the students the All About Birds page for each bird, so they can hear and see the bird, learn where it lives, and find out "cool facts" about the bird.

3. Observe! Get your students outside or even just looking out the window. If you have a bird feeder nearby or a wooded area take them on a bird walk. Ask everyone to write down and sketch the birds they see. When you return to the classroom, compare notes and have a discussion about what you saw, heard and experienced. You might also want to order a set of Pocket Naturalist guides for your region to aid in identifying the birds.

Once you've picked out some common species that you are likely to see in your area, search All About Birds online field guide for details on each species. Teach your group how to identify these birds by silhouette, color pattern (field marks), and calls.

4. Keep learning and thinking. The Lab of Ornithology created four "Inside Birding" videos to help beginners learn how to identify birds. Each of these fun videos is only about 10 minutes long. Watched in sequence, they will give you many tips for how our best birders figure out which-bird-is-which. Beginners will also find our All About Birds "Birding 1-2-3" video tutorials very useful. You can also look into our bird identification app: Merlin. The app is designed to help beginners learn how to separate and identify birds using different clues from the birds and is also totally free!

5. Motivate with citizen science! Even if your bird identification skills aren't perfect, you can get started, and participating in citizen science is really motivating. Once your students have a working knowledge of birds, get them set up with projects at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology like eBird and Project Feederwatch. Practice makes perfect... please just only count the birds you can reliably identify. For the others... sketch the bird, look it up in a field guide, and try to learn it for next time.

After learning identification details like these, your students would likely have no trouble at all recognizing that black-capped bird out window as a Black-capped Chickadee. You have access to birds and wonderful bird ID resources, so what's stopping you from teaching your students skills that they can use to make meaningful scientific contributions? For some of your students, birding might even become a lifelong passion, just as it has for many of us here at the Lab of Ornithology.

You might also like...

Downloading our free curriculum, which introduces one or more birds each month throughout the school year and provides seasonal activities.

Do citizen science projects like eBird and Project FeederWatch with your students!

If you're interested and want to take bird ID with your students further, BirdSleuth offers the Most Wanted Birds curriculum that is designed to introduce students to birding and citizen-science projects. It includes standard-based lessons you can use with your students, a teacher's guide, and a bunch of other cool resources (including our popular ID cards!).

Reading BirdSleuth's other blog posts on using binoculars, the importance of citizen science, and using eBird with students.

Working with your local nature center and bringing in a bird expert to help you. Some nature centers may also have supplies such as binoculars that they can lend to you and your class for your birding expeditions.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology: BirdSleuth K-12

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Beginning birding with your students? Check out these tips! A tiny, round bird perches just outside your classroom window. It has a black "cap" atop its little head, white "cheeks," a short bill, and a long, narrow tail. If your school is located in a northern region of North America, your students have surely seen this bird many times.

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More info on getting started with this hobby

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Birding For Kids Resource Guide | Birding with Children! Tips on Getting Started

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Kids and birding are a natural combination. Parents will be happy to leave the electronics behind, slow down, and reconnect with nature. For kids, though, birding can be full of adventure and challenge. There's no denying the thrill of finally finding a rare species or identifying a hidden bird by its call.

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Find out about differences in the bodies of birds.

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Bird Anatomy

Birds have special ways of surviving. Their bodies are a major one. Special lightweight bones help them fly and feathers help protect them from bad weather.

Bones. Birds have very lightweight bones. Their bones are also very strong, so that they do not break under the pressures of flight. The bones in bird legs and wings are hollow, providing space for tiny air sacs. Flightless birds, however, have solid bones.

Lungs. Most of the air that enters a bird is not used for breathing! It is used to cool down the bird's insides, which can easily become heated during flight. Birds have lungs and also a system of air sacs. The air sacs make the bird lighter, helping it float in air or water.

Heart. Like people, birds have a four-chambered heart. It pumps blood very quickly through a bird's body to cope with the hard work of flying. The veins and arteries that supply blood to the wing muscles are especially large, since the body parts that are used for flying work the hardest.

Feathers. Instead of skin or fur, birds are covered with feathers. Feathers provide a waterproof layer for birds and act as an insulator so they can maintain a high body temperature. Birds usually need to maintain a body temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit! Do you know what temperature our bodies maintain? (Answer: 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Feathers have their own unique anatomy. If you have a feather, you might want to observe the different parts. Use a magnifying glass to see the tiniest parts. The hard, stem-like section of the feather is called the rachis. The "branches" of the feather are called vanes. Each vane is made up of more tiny parts. The stem of the vane is called a barb. Branching from the barb are tiny barbules, each with little hooks on them. The hooks work like Velcro, to connect the vanes of the feather and hold them together. This is why it is so difficult to separate the vanes of a feather from each other. Learn more about feathers here.

Eyes. Have you ever noticed how birds have to turn their heads to look at an object? That is because their eyes aren't able to move very much. However, birds are able to see a greater range of the color spectrum than people can. They also have the ability to focus on two different objects out of each eye! Each eye has two foveae, the part of the retina which "sees" most clearly.

Bills. Bills are uniquely tailored for the different eating functions required by each species of bird. They don't have teeth, so their beaks are important! Birds with short beaks, such as sparrows and finches, eat small seeds. Cardinals and grosbeaks have slightly larger, stubby bills to hold the large seeds that they eat. Meat-eating birds, like hawks and eagles, have hooked bills to tear their prey. Woodpeckers have long, narrow bills for extracting insects from dead wood. Toucans have large, hollow bills for collecting fruit and cracking it apart. Most sea birds have long bills, to capture and hold fish.

Your children might enjoy guessing what different birds eat. Collect pictures of different kinds of birds from nature magazines or books. Hypothesize with your children about what kind of food each bird eats, based on its bill shape and size. To check your hypotheses, use a bird guide or an encyclopedia and read about what each bird eats. Discuss how close your guesses were to the answers. Do you have a general idea now of how bill shape and size fit each bird?

How Birds Fly

Most birds use flying as their primary mode of transportation. However, some birds can't fly at all! (You'll learn more about them below.) A bird's lightweight bones and specially designed wings make flying easy. They also have special strong muscles to support their wings during flight and to keep them moving, even when they have to fly over very long distances. A bird's wing is curved from the front to the back, the same way an airplane's wings are. The special shape allows the air to push the bird along as it flaps its wings. There is more pressure from the air pushing up (from the bottom) on the wing than there is pushing down (from the top of the wing). This is called lift. It helps a bird take-off and stay in the air.

Besides flapping, there are other techniques birds use to fly. They can stretch out their wings and glide slowly down towards the ground without flapping. Ducks often glide down to land in water.

A similar way of flying is called soaring. Instead of going downwards, though, a bird can soar when it stretches out its wings over warm air. Since warm air rises, it pushes the bird upwards. Hawks and eagles often soar.

Some birds can fly sort of the way helicopters do - by hovering! In order to hover, a bird must flap its wings very very quickly; hummingbirds flap their wings over 50 times per second! This quick movement allows them to fly backwards as well as forwards. They can also fly up or down, and side to side, much like a helicopter.

Flightless Birds

All birds have wings, but not all birds can fly! Some birds can't fly at all and are called flightless birds. Their wings aren't designed for flying. Penguins, for example, use their short wings like flippers to help them swim. In fact, penguins are excellent swimmers - it's not unusual for one to swim a total of over 100 miles just to find food. Flightless birds usually have much smaller and shorter wings than birds that fly. Their feathers are also smaller and are symmetrically shaped (each half of the feather looks the same - like a butterfly's wings). Birds that fly have asymmetrical feathers (one side of the feather is usually larger and more rounded). Birds that don't fly also usually have more feathers covering all of their bodies. Kiwi birds, Emu, Ostriches, and Penguins are a few kinds of flightless birds. Some flightless birds are now extinct, such as the Dodo bird.

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Learn About Birds | Science Lesson for Kids | Biology

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Birds have special ways of surviving. Their bodies are a major one. Special lightweight bones help them fly and feathers help protect them from bad weather. Bones. Birds have very lightweight bones. Their bones are also very strong, so that they do not break under the pressures of flight.

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Birds (Aves) are one group of animals in the animal kingdom that are warm-blooded and have a vertebrae. They are actually the only group of animals that have feathers. Feathers provide birds warmth and help maintain their body temperature.

Most birds have great eyesight and hearing ability. They can focus on different objects out of each eye. They are also more sensitive to colors than human. Nocturnal birds, like owls, have excellent hearing so that they can hunt during nights.

All birds have wings. , it does not mean that all of them use their wings to . For example, penguins use wings for swimming. Ostriches are the largest, and they use their wings for balance when running. These birds are also called flightless birds.

Flying and Migrating Birds

For most birds, flying is a way of transportation. They have relatively lightweight bones and strong wing muscles. These unique features help them flap their wings, take off, , glide, hover and land.

Many types of birds have the habit of migration. Migrating birds, like geese and ducks, in a group and travel for long distances. They do this to look for better living conditions and food supply. In summer, they to areas close to the poles where the temperature is cooler . During winter seasons, they towards the equator to escape freezing temperatures and find a better food supply .

When capturing and processing food, beaks are very important for birds. This is because they do not have teeth . Different species have unique shapes of beaks to fulfill their eating needs.

Eagles and owls have curved and sharp beaks to tear meat from their prey. Toucans have oversized beaks to reach fruits on tree branches and crack their food apart. Hummingbirds have thin and long beaks to collect nectar from flowers. Woodpeckers have small but strong and pointed beaks so that they could drill holes into tree trucks to extract insects

Check out this great video!

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Birds (Aves) - Animal Classification - Kids Biology

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Birds (Aves) are one group of animals in the animal kingdom that are warm-blooded and have a vertebrae . They are actually the only group of animals that have feathers. Feathers provide birds warmth and help maintain their body temperature. Most birds have great eyesight and hearing ability.

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Learn how to recognize birds by their sounds

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The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Bird Song Hero

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How can you train your brain to recognize and remember bird songs? The All About Bird Biology team at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has come up with a way to visualize bird vocalizations: Bird Song Hero. Want to test yourself further?

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Why do birds have different types of legs and feet?

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Birds have very well adapted legs and feet, according to the habitat where they live. From short to very long, through bare or feathered legs, these tools are used in definite soils and under peculiar weather conditions.

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Find Vocabulary along with descriptions of feet

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Research different birds

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Research

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Definition:

(noun) A habitat is the natural environment in which a bird lives, including all associated plant life, landforms, climate and other wildlife. A healthy, diverse habitat is essential for birds to thrive.

Pronunciation:

HAB-ih-tat
(rhymes with acrobat, copycat and diplomat)

About Habitats

A habitat includes all four necessities for a bird's survival - food, water, shelter and nesting areas - though these features can vary greatly between different types habitats.

Food: Grains, seeds, fruits, nuts, nectar-producing flowers and prey such as insects, fish, mammals, reptiles and other birds.

Water: Any source available for drinking or bathing, including rivers, swamps, lakes, streams, bays, estuaries and oceans.

Shelter: Coniferous or deciduous trees, shrubbery, caves or rock niches, overhanging banks or snags.

Nesting Sites: Hollow trees or snags, vegetation to support nests, burrows, nesting boxes, bird houses and suitable nesting material.

In addition to having the appropriate features to support bird survival, a habitat also includes all the associated landforms (mountain ranges, coasts, plateaus, valleys, etc.), seasonal climate patterns, predators and other wildlife.

Non-migratory birds occupy the same habitat year-round, but may adjust their behavior to suit different seasons, such as changing their diet to the most abundant food sources throughout the year.

Migratory birds change habitats seasonally, perhaps switching between two quite different types of habitats that may be hundreds or thousands of miles apart, or else seeking out similar habitats that meet their needs in different locations at different times of the year.

Types of Habitats for Birds

There are many different types of habitats across the globe, each of which can support different types of birds and other wildlife.

The most familiar and widespread habitats include:

Forests - Includes boreal regions, temperate woodlands and tropical jungles

Grasslands - Includes meadows, prairies, plains and scrub regions

Deserts - With varying degrees of aridity and drought-tolerant vegetation

Wetlands - Includes marshes, bogs and swamps

Tundra - Circumpolar regions with light and temperature extremes

Oceans - Pelagic zones that include offshore islands and aquatic regions

Urban and Suburban - Regions associated with humans, including major cities

Habitats may be clearly defined or may have transitional zones where different types of habitats merge, such as woodland edges that are a transition between forests and grasslands. The type of habitat with the most diverse avifauna is tropical forest, but multiple bird species and good birding can be found in every habitat.

The amount of habitat a bird requires for survival and growth depends on the species. Many species, while an individual bird may have a relatively small range, require large habitats for a healthy population to minimize competition for food sources and nesting grounds. At the same time, many species may occupy the same range because their food, shelter and nesting needs do not overlap, and they do not compete individually.

Instead, they share resources and use specific environmental niches that make the habitat more diverse.

Birders can make use of habitats as a clue to bird identification, particularly for birds with specific needs or habitat requirements. Habitat alone is not usually enough for a positive identification, but can be a critical part of determining which bird is which in any given area.

How Habitat Loss Affects Birds

Many birds are threatened by habitat destruction and fragmentation that eliminates the necessary undisturbed environments. Developmental activities that most impact habitat include:

Agricultural use, including clearing habitats for fields or grazing livestock

Logging and forest harvesting that removes mature vegetation

Expansion of urban areas for housing, industry or similar developments

Infrastructure development that fractures habitats, such as roads, electrical lines, wind turbines or similar structures

Habitats are also gravely damaged by polluting activities, such as oil spills or pesticide and herbicide runoff. Natural disasters can damage habitats as well, such as a fire destroying mature forests, flooding changing the water composition of coastal swamps or a landslide changing the structure of a hill or valley.

Birds can adapt to habitat changes over time, and may shift their ranges to more suitable locations. In some cases, habitat changes can even be beneficial, encouraging the growth of younger plants that may support different bird species. Rapid changes - such as caused by human actions - have have drastic consequences, however, and bird populations may plummet if their habitat is no longer suitable or there are no other locations to which they can relocate.

Also Known As:

Biome, Ecological Zone, Range, Territory

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(noun) A habitat is the natural environment in which a bird lives, including all associated plant life, landforms, climate and other wildlife. A healthy, diverse habitat is essential for birds to thrive. HAB-ih-tat(rhymes with acrobat, copycat and diplomat) A habitat includes all four necessities for a bird's survival - food, water, shelter and nesting areas - though these features can vary greatly between different types habitats.

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Descriptions of different habitats

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Natural Habitats of Birds | BIRDS in BACKYARDS

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Different species of birds suit different types of natural habitat. Although there is much overlap in the resources that different habitats provide (e.g. insect food), some habitats are rich in certain resources. For example, heathlands are often rich in plant species belonging to the family Proteaceae, which tend to have bird-pollinated flowers that are rich in nectar.

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Various sounds of birds from our area

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What is the fastest bird? Find out here.

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Interesting Facts about Birds | Educational Video for Kids.

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Collect data and share it here.

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Collect data and share it here.

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Data information

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Bird watchers of all ages count birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are. Count birds anytime, anywhere, with eBird "

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Use your observation skills - 1. What materials do you see? 2. How does she use her body as a tool?

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What materials and skills do you see?

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Find out more about nest types

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55 minutes long

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The first in a three-part series about how animals build their remarkable homes.

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Use your observation skills

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What Are Nests Made Of? | NATURE Nuggets

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Observe materials and design

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Basket weaving 101: Baltimore Oriole nest construction - short version

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Resources for the classroom

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As a way to support environmental education beyond Mass Audubon-led school programs, we now provide educators with free online teaching units to use throughout the year.

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Teacher resources

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Lessons and Curricula

Videos

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

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.

Articles

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

* Citizen Science
* Bird Identification
* Bird Biology
* Outdoor Learning

Learn Online

Bird Academy

Explore free and premium content on topics ranging from bird identification to bird song and behavior. Explore free and premium content on topics ranging from bird identification to bird song and behavior. Bird Academy offers new ways to learn about the world of birds through courses, videos, interactives, puzzles, quizzes and more. Whether you're in the mood for browsing videos of wild bird behavior or ready to dive into learning all the duck species in your area, Bird Academy is here to help. ">Bird Academy offers new ways to learn about the world of birds through courses, videos, interactives, puzzles, quizzes and more. Whether you're in the mood for browsing videos of wild bird behavior or ready to dive into learning all the duck species in your area, Bird Academy is here to help.

Webinars

Browse our list of upcoming and archived webinars.

Media Library

Select from more than 100 free videos, articles, quizzes, and interactive activities in the media library.

Ornithology: Comprehensive Bird Biology

At your own pace, learn about bird behavior, migration, ecology, conservation, and many other subjects. Learn college-level ornithology using the Handbook of Bird Biology, 3rd edition, along with custom media elements and rigorous quizzes for each chapter. Over the past 20 years, more than 10,000 bird enthusiasts and budding ornithologists have used previous versions of this course to transform their understanding of birds. Comparable to an introductory college level course in Ornithology, this course is well suited for anyone with a serious interest in learning more about birds. Find out more.

Spring Field Ornithology

Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned birder, you can take your bird ID skills to the next level with this popular eight-week course. Select from lectures in person or online, weekend outings, and special overnight trips to birding hotspots. Topics covered include identification tips, breeding bird biology, bird song, migration, and much more.

Monday Night Seminars

The Cornell Lab hosts seminars throughout the year, including our long-running Monday Night Seminar series, a tradition established decades ago by Lab founder Dr. Arthur Allen. Speakers include Cornell Lab staff, book authors, and distinguished scientists from around the world.

Bird Walks

Join local birders for a walk in the woods guaranteed to improve your birding skills. Led by Cayuga Bird Club members and Lab staff walks will provide you with information on local species and Lab tools that can help you improve your bird ID skills. Check the schedule.

Get Outside

BirdSleuth Explorer's Guidebook

Get outdoors and explore with this free resource! Kids go on a habitat scavenger hunt, create a sound map, and test their bird ID skills. This step-by-step guide is the result of a partnership with the "Every Kid in a Park" effort. Though it is geared toward fourth grade students, it is highly adaptable for many ages and locations. Learn more.

Games
Bird Song Hero
This is the new, visual way for anyone to learn bird songs. Train your brain to recognize more than 50 bird songs with this fun matching game.

Bird BINGO, habitat scavenger hunt, and bird ID focus cards can make outdoor learning and exploring fun and engaging.

Plan Your Visit

Individuals and Families

Explore interactive exhibits and world-class art in our Visitor Center, and head outside to four miles of trails in our surrounding Sapsucker Woods sanctuary. More information.

Group Visits

The Lab is a great destination for groups of all ages. Your group can have fun while learning from our introductory film, exhibits, indoor wildlife observation area, and trails in the surrounding Sapsucker Woods sanctuary. Make your reservation today! Learn more.

Bird Walks

You can join local birders for a walk in the woods guaranteed to improve your birding skills. Led by Cayuga Bird Club members and Lab staff walks will provide you with information on local species and Lab tools that can help you improve your bird ID skills. Check the schedule.

Spring Field Ornithology

Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned birder, you can take your bird ID skills to the next level with this popular eight-week course. Select from lectures in person or online, weekend outings, and special overnight trips to birding hotspots. Topics covered include identification tips, breeding bird biology, bird song, migration, and much more. .

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology, We use science to understand the world, to find new ways to make conservation work, and to involve people who share our passion. We offer help for birders through All About Birds website on all bird info, questions, etc.

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Resources

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Bringing the joy and benefits of birding to others!

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Bringing the joy AND BENEFITS of birding to others - to promote both healthy living and bird conservation.

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Find out about different eggs

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Take notes on what you see in your journal

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What do you notice? Take notes in your journal

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9 DAYS IN THE NEST - Baby Birds fom Egg to Fledgling a Compilation

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What forces are involved in flight?

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One of the requirements for heavier-than-air flying machines is a structure that combines strength with light weight. This is true for birds as well as planes. Birds have many physical features, besides wings, that work together to enable them to fly. They need lightweight, streamlined, rigid structures for flight. The four forces of flight - weight, lift, drag and thrust - affect the flight of birds.

Physical features

Flying birds have:

lightweight, smooth feathers - this reduces the forces of weight and drag

a beak, instead of heavy, bony jaws and teeth - this reduces the force of weight

an enlarged breastbone called a sternum for flight muscle attachment - this helps with the force of thrust

light bones - a bird's bones are basically hollow with air sacs and thin, tiny cross pieces to make bones stronger - this reduces the force of weight

a rigid skeleton to provide firm attachments for powerful flight muscles - this helps with the force of thrust

a streamlined body - this helps reduce the force of drag

wings - these enable the force of lift.

Wings

The shape of a bird's wing is important for producing lift. The increased speed over a curved, larger wing area creates a longer path of air. This means the air is moving more quickly over the top surface of the wing, reducing air pressure on the top of the wing and creating lift. Also, the angle of the wing (tilted) deflects air downwards, causing a reaction force in the opposite direction and creating lift.

Larger wings produce greater lift than smaller wings. So smaller-winged birds (and planes) need to fly faster to maintain the same lift as those with larger wings.

Wing loading tells you how fast a bird or plane must fly to be able to maintain lift: wing loading = weight/wing area (kilograms per square metre).

A smaller wing loading number means the bird/plane can fly more slowly while still maintaining lift and is more manoeuvrable.

Gliding

When a bird is gliding, it doesn't have to do any work. The wings are held out to the side of the body and do not flap. As the wings move through the air, they are held at a slight angle, which deflects the air downwards and causes a reaction in the opposite direction, which is lift. But there is also drag (air resistance) on the bird's body, so every now and then, the bird has to tilt forward and go into a slight dive so that it can maintain forward speed.

Soaring

Soaring flight is a special kind of glide. Birds that fly over the land soar a rising air current called a thermal. Because the air is rising, the bird can maintain its height relative to the ground. Albatross also soar without flapping their wings, sometimes for hours at a time. They use dynamic soaring - a technique that takes advantage of ocean winds to provide lift while weaving an S pattern over wave tops and troughs. Albatross use this type of soaring to support their multi-year voyages at sea.

Flapping

Birds' wings flap with an up-and-down motion. This propels them forward. The entire wingspan has to be at the right angle of attack, which means the wings have to twist (and do so automatically) with each downward stroke to keep aligned with the direction of travel.

A bird's wing produces lift and thrust during the downstroke. The air is deflected downwards and also to the rear. The bird reduces its angle of attack and partially folds its wings on the upward stroke so that it passes through the air with the least possible resistance. The inner part of the wing has very little movement and can provide lift in a similar way to gliding.

Obtaining thrust

Birds obtain thrust by using their strong muscles and flapping their wings. Some birds may jump from a tree to give them forward thrust for flight. Others may use a running take-off from the ground.

Different flight abilities

Different birds have different adaptive features to meet their flight needs:

Some birds are small and can manipulate their wings and tail to manoeuvre easily, such as the pīwakawaka - fantail.

The hawk, with its large wingspan, is capable of speed and soaring.

Gannets and seabirds are streamlined to dive at high speeds into the ocean for fish.

Godwits, although small, are equipped to fly long distances.

Activity ideas

Useful link

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One of the requirements for heavier-than-air flying machines is a structure that combines strength with light weight. This is true for birds as well as planes. Birds have many physical features, besides wings, that work together to enable them to fly. They need lightweight, streamlined, rigid structures for flight.

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What connections can you make between Birds and Planes? How are they similar?

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Airbus A380. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380. Author: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:AEMoreira042281

Aerodynamics is the branch of physics that deals with the dynamics of air as it interacts with solid objects, such as airplane wings. Anything that flies, such as airplanes, helicopters, and birds, utilize the principles of aerodynamics to move through the air.

Airplanes and helicopters are designed and created by people, while birds (and other flying animals such as bats and insects) owe their flying ability to evolution. But both are fascinating in their own right.

Airplanes are able to fly because of two key effects. The first effect is the "push" given by the airplane engines which propel the airplane through the air. The second effect is the movement of air over the airplane's wings which creates the lifting force required to keep the airplane up in the air. In simple terms, the wings of an airplane generate lift force and the engine creates the thrust to propel the airplane through the air.

Now, for birds and other flying animals, the flapping motion of their wings create both lift and thrust. If the wings of an airplane could flap they would also propel the airplane through the air and maintain lift, and an engine wouldn't be needed. But it would be very difficult to design and build an airplane with flapping wings. It would be an extreme engineering challenge which is why airplanes are designed to keep the source of lift (the wings) and thrust (the engine) separate.

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mallard_pair_in_flight.jpg. Author: Ingrid Taylar

To gain an understanding of the aerodynamic forces necessary for flight consider the figure below showing an airplane flying through the air.

If the airplane is moving at constant velocity with no acceleration, the forces shown in the figure must balance. This means that the lift force ( L) generated by the airplane wings must equal the airplane weight ( W) due to gravity. Similarly, the thrust force ( T) generated by the airplane engines must equal the drag force ( D) caused by air resistance.

Wings are also called airfoils and the shape of their cross-section determines how well the air flows over the wing to generate lift. The presence of air friction (viscosity) is what allows an airfoil to generate lift. The reasoning behind this is complicated but basically, the air flow pattern around an airfoil results in the lower half of the airfoil experiencing greater pressure force than the top half of the airfoil. As a result, a lift force is generated. The figure below shows the cross-section view of an airfoil.

Airplanes and flying animals, such as birds, have streamlined shapes. This means that they fly through the air with minimal drag (also known as air resistance). This is desirable since it means that it takes less energy to fly through the air. In the case of an airplane this means that fuel consumption is minimized. But drag can only be reduced, and never eliminated. To gain a feel for what is meant by drag consider the figure below showing a ball thrown with air drag present and with no air drag present.

As shown, the ball thrown with no air resistance flies farther than the ball with air resistance. However, only a perfect vacuum can result in no air resistance since there would be no air molecules hitting against the object as it moves, which would slow it down.

Helicopters (shown below) are another type of flying machine made by people. Just like airplanes, helicopters also rely on aerodynamic principles to fly. The main rotor of a helicopter consists of several blades. Each blade acts as a type of wing, and when the rotor rotates the air flows past the blade and generates a lift force to keep the helicopter in the air. The spinning tail rotor works on the same principle as the main rotor. It provides a counter "push" force to prevent the helicopter from spinning in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the main rotor.

The thrust comes from tilting the main rotor. To move the helicopter forward the main rotor is tilted forward a bit, which creates a horizontal force to propel the helicopter forward. Similarly, to move the helicopter sideways the main rotor is tilted sideways a bit in the direction the pilot wants to go (either left or right).

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AW-139_SASEMAR.jpg. Author: Jordi Payà

Helicopters have a big advantage over airplanes in that they can hover in one spot and move sideways or vertically. This makes them very useful for certain tasks, such as rescue missions. Airplanes must move forward at high speed in order to generate air flow over the wings to generate lift force. But helicopters can remain stationary in the air and generate lift force with the air flow over the rotating main rotor blades.

Another good demonstration of aerodynamics is paper airplanes. Every kid has thrown one. So the next time you throw a paper airplane know that there is aerodynamics at work, and the better the aerodynamic design of your paper airplane the farther and straighter it will fly.

Here are some fun toys that demonstrate some of the principles of aerodynamics: balsa glider, boomerang, and tim bird.

Return to Physics For Kids page

Return to Real World Physics Problems home page

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Airbus A380. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380. Author: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:AEMoreira042281 Aerodynamics is the branch of physics that deals with the dynamics of air as it interacts with solid objects, such as airplane wings. Anything that flies, such as airplanes, helicopters, and birds, utilize the principles of aerodynamics to move through the air.

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Explanation

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Explanation

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Most of us perhaps wonder about how do birds fly and what makes birds flight possible? While birds in flight how they manage to steer from one place to another? These are some of the commonly asked questions and for which you seldom find any fruitful answers. However, we'll try to figure out what's behind the peculiarly designed structure of birds that help them in rising as well as landing safely on ground.

How do birds fly for kids - Birds in Flight

In order to elevate themselves, birds require great vigor and strength that usually stems from a range of metabolism functions. Besides, bones having negligible weight along with flight feathers help them to maneuver while birds in flight and provide sufficient power to haul them up when needed. In the upper body, there is a special bone called as ' wishbone' that is primarily responsible for yielding the appropriate vigor in addition to the backing needed for fluttering in the air. How do birds fly is not a convoluted problem to deal with since the technicalities of airliner and birds are alike. Apparently, it seems as if it is a straightforward process of birds flight but there are number of issues that are involved in a successful flight. The propulsion and the required elevation are generated by the fluttering of wings in the air. Afterwards, when it comes to guiding to a specific location, again these wings comes into play along with a tail to define the precise course.

Facts About How Do Birds Fly

Depending upon the upstroke or the downstroke movement of birds, they are capable to adjust the figure of their wings known as 'airfoil' accordingly. As they flutter their wings in the air, they are able to tone the driving force down and at the same time, produce an elevation required for raising them up. Nature has configured the wings of birds in such a subtle fashion that as they slither through the air, these birds changes the direction of wings with the intention of preventing the air current to penetrate these wings. Besides, in doing so, the current of air happens to go through the upper portion of wings more speedily than beneath the wings. This disparity of air currents in the upper and lower segments of wings allows the birds to have a required driving force that should neutralize the gravity and uplift them to elevate. It's not that easy to slither and maneuver your wings while birds in flight because it needs a lot of strength and that usually come from rapid flutter of wings. However, the plumage of birds is designed biologically to provide elevation and also the strong muscles help them to steer in the wild winds.

Birds in Flight

In actual fact, plumage of birds is a part and parcel segment and around which the entire system of aerodynamics work. Birds flight is a mesmerizing phenomenon since feathers always vary their position from time to time depending upon the specific kind of deed. Therefore, birds are able to slither, elevate, plunge and move in almost any direction by either holding their wings firmly or loosening them to land safely on ground. Since the entire plumage of birds are largely composed of feathers so while birds in flight, they happen to yield enough driving force through the flutter of wings. As compare to some weighty birds, fluffy birds have greater advantage of soaring high in the air since every bird requires ample strength for elevation. But initially, all the birds have to bend ahead before taking off followed by the quick flutter of wings. The underlying principle behind this action is that a force beneath the entire structure propels the body to move ahead as well as the wind currents at the uppermost wing hauls the bird up. In this way, it becomes extremely undemanding for a bird to take flight.

By way of sprawling the tail and dropping their base (feet), birds manage to drive their speed down when needed and in this way, they employ drag which plays a pivotal role while coming to rest. Besides, plumage also enables them to descend plus the entire structure propels the bird to plunge while the wings are still in the air.

Role Of Aspect Ratio For Different Birds In Flight

Aspect ratio is a commonly used term particularly with birds. It actually implies ratio of the precise span of bird with its breadth and various birds have either high or low ratio. Those birds that have comparatively high aspect ratio can maneuver in the air and also changes the direction more quickly than others like eagles. Unlike low aspect ratio birds like doves, these birds can attain lightning fast speed and can easily aim at any target from a fair distance. Unlike other birds, an eagle does not flutter their wings quickly in the air but since their aspect ratio is high, so he has an added advantage over the other.

How do birds fly videos

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How do birds fly for kids - Birds in flight - Birds Flight

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Most of us perhaps wonder about how do birds fly and what makes birds flight possible? While birds in flight how they manage to steer from one place to another? These are some of the commonly asked questions and for which you seldom find any fruitful answers.

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Biological Evolution

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3-LS1-1 From molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes | Next Generation Science Standards

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Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death. [Clarification Statement: Changes organisms go through during their life form a pattern.] [ Assessment Boundary: Assessment of plant life cycles is limited to those of flowering plants.

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Ecosystems, Interactions, Energy & Dynamics

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3-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics | Next Generation Science Standards

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3-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

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Enjoy!

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The On Bird Hill - Teacher's Guide (8 pages, free download) features activities that target national science, math, writing, and art education standards for grades K-2. This website provides background information, digital content, and supplementary activities to complement the printable Guide.

Supplemental Ideas for the Activities in the Guide:

Activity 1. Retellings and Reenactments

This video of an egg hatching will complement your reenactment of the story of On Bird Hill.

Additional questions:

What differences do you notice between the two hatchings?

Does it take long for a real chick to hatch?

What is the chick like when it comes out of the egg?

Activity 2. Sequential Storytelling

Use this Story Board organizer to create a numbered sequence of the most important story events. Invite children to draw and/or write what happens in each square of the organizer.

Activities 5 and 6. So Many Nests & Build a Nest

Take a look at the Cornell Lab's site for more nest identification tips, including a Clutch Size chart. Show children images of different bird nests and have them guess at who they might belong to. (Don't be fooled by non-bird nests!)

Activity 7. Camouflage and Seek

Both animals and eggs use their coloration to hide from predators. Check out the images below for camouflage inspiration and let kids get creative by designing their own patterned eggs.

Activity 9. Bouncing Baby Bird

Refer to the video below for a step-by-step guide to the activity. As an alternative, you may choose to play the video and answer the activity questions without doing the experiment.

Activity 10. Comparing Critters

Use the following sites to help you figure out what birds are common in your area:

Sort by region, habitat, and lots of other factors to find out who your neighborhood friends are!

Activity 11. See a Baby Chick Hatch

Reference the video for the Retelling and Reenactments activity to observe the hatching of a baby chick. You can also visit the All About Birds Bird Cams page to view livestreams of different bird nests, including a Red-tailed Hawk's nest and a Great Horned Owl's nest.

Activity 12. Changing Chicks

Can you tell whose baby is whose? Use the pictures below to play a matching game with children and compare the ways young and adult birds look.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology: BirdSleuth K-12

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The On Bird Hill - Teacher's Guide (8 pages, free download) features activities that target national science, math, writing, and art education standards for grades K-2. This website provides background information, digital content, and supplementary activities to complement the printable Guide. Activity 1.

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Find out about the science of birds here.

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Several aspects of ornithology differ from other disciplines, because they are easy to see and are often attractive. Many studies of birds have been done by amateurs working in a scientific manner.

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Dinosaur birds

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Another raptor-type dinosaur found.

"'Based on the findings so far, we assume that the dinosaur is something close to a Microraptor or others in the raptor genera," said Lim Jong-deock, chief curator of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. "However, it's uncertain at this stage exactly which type of dinosaur it was, and there is a chance that it is a new type that hasn't been reported to academia as of yet.'"

"Microraptors are bird-like dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period. They measure between 77 and 90 centimeters (30 and 35 inches), weigh just one or two kilograms (2.2 or 4.4 pounds) and have feathered wings. They were the smallest carnivorous dinosaurs and were believed to have eaten insects or other animals."

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2997736

Here's two links for more information:

Article in Nature Communications:

Some interesting bird filming by Prof Dennis Hlynsky at the Rhode Island School of Design that shows patterns of flight.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26643846

A new dino-bird discovery, called Jeholornis, is a two-tailed bird. Here's an artist depiction:

Here's an interesting article about animal consciousness.
http://www.aeonmagazine.com/nature-and-cosmos/the-science-of-animal-consciousness/
I really liked this bit: "For myself, I'd be happy to see a revival of naturalist language, the sort of charming, unapologetically anthropomorphic descriptions one finds in old field guides, written before the ascendance of the 20th century's airless, specialist vernacular. It's a voice heard in The Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts (1905) in which Charles Wendell Townsend described a 'low, rolling gossipy note' voiced by semipalmated sandpipers approaching other birds. He waxed eloquent about their courtship, the male 'pouring forth a succession of musical notes, continuous wavering trill, and ending with a few very sweet notes that recall those of a goldfinch... one may be lucky enough, if near at hand, to hear a low musical cluck from the excited bird. This is, I suppose, the full love flight-song.' It is the language of a man who cares."

Hundreds of bird species have seen a population decline so rapid, experts believe they could disappear completely anytime.

More than 1300 bird species are facing extinction. For more details see BirdLife International (2012). A new book, The World's Rarest Birds, contains photos of 800 of these bird species.

To get photos of these rare birds, the editors of the book asked amateur photographers to submit photos to the World's Rarest Birds Photo Competition. Click this link to see some examples: ( Select Photos)

Categories Bird photography, Endangered Species, Ornithology

How do owls turn their heads almost 360 degrees?

Scientists explain the eerie skill that's baffled birders for years:

"it is hoped the research could help prioritise conservation efforts in a bid to save the most diverse species from extinction."

Check it out at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121031141906.htm

This being one of my first posts and the beginning for this blog, I'm going to start by sharing a few photos from my trip to England this summer. I'll share some photos of the birds I saw over there later, but I'm starting here with Archaeopteryx (say it like this: Ark-ee-op-tur-icks), a 150 million year old bird. This guy has claws or talons on the upper middle of the wings and best of all, teeth.

This is a pretty cool reconstruction of Archaeopteryx, an early prehistoric bird, dating from about 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period. I think there is some evidence now that Archaeopteryx was probably black.

So it turns out that birds are living dinosaurs and dinosaurs like this T-Rex probably had feathers of some sort. Check it out.

The museum has the remains of what was one of the last Dodos and these remains are considered "one of the greatest treasures of the Museum" (Oxford University Museum of Natural History).

Categories Tags Ornithology Archaeopteryx, bird fossils, dodos, extinction, origins of birds, Oxford University Museum of Natural History

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Another raptor-type dinosaur found. "'Based on the findings so far, we assume that the dinosaur is something close to a Microraptor or others in the raptor genera," said Lim Jong-deock, chief curator of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage.

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birds hatching

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Look for your bird on the A-Z list

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Full Alphabetical List of common bird species of Ireland

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List and Information on birds

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"Where Are the Birds?"

Mass Audubon gets this question a lot in fall and winter, asked by concerned nature lovers whose once-busy yards and feeders now stand quiet.

The answer can usually be explained by seasonal changes in songbird populations.

Have there been any unusual or rare sightings in your area? Find out what birds are being seen where in Massachusetts with our regularly updated reports.
View recent sightings >

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Mass Audubon gets this question a lot in fall and winter, asked by concerned nature lovers whose once-busy yards and feeders now stand quiet. The answer can usually be explained by seasonal changes in songbird populations. Have there been any unusual or rare sightings in your area?

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Indigo Bunting Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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The all-blue male Indigo Bunting sings with cheerful gusto and looks like a scrap of sky with wings. Sometimes nicknamed "blue canaries," these brilliantly colored yet common and widespread birds whistle their bouncy songs through the late spring and summer all over eastern North America.

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Tufted Titmouse Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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A little gray bird with an echoing voice, the Tufted Titmouse is common in eastern deciduous forests and a frequent visitor to feeders. The large black eyes, small, round bill, and brushy crest gives these birds a quiet but eager expression that matches the way they flit through canopies, hang from twig-ends, and drop in to bird feeders.

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Find out why birds migrate.

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Migratory Birds | The Dr. Binocs Show | Learn Videos For Kids

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PBS - research

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Science Trek
Following the seasons of the year, birds fly from one part of the world to another. It is called migration. Why do they do it? How do they find their way? Learn more in this episode of Science Trek!

Aired: 10/20/09

Rating: TV-G

Problems Playing Video? Report a Problem |

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Science Trek | Bird Migration: Doing it For Food | PBS

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Why is bird migration like your bus ride to and from school?

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This shows what the word for this bird is in different languages along with the sound it makes.

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Bird sounds for kids - PART 1 - Bird Identification: Children Learn Common City Birds and Fowls

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Animal Science

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Why Do Birds Sing? | Animal Science for Kids

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Live Cam

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Live Hummingbird Feeder Cam, Bird Feeder, Studio City, California

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Live Bird Watching Cam from Cornell Labs

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Live Bird Watching Cam from Cornell Labs

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Watch Live

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Live Birds In 4K! Cornell Lab FeederWatch Cam at Sapsucker Woods

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Choose a location to watch different birds

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From nesting Atlantic Puffins in Maine to Arizona's hungry hummingbirds, you can follow along live 24/7.

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Cornell site

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Search, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Detailed information for more than 600 North American bird species, including ID help, browse by shape and taxonomy, and deeper articles.

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Discover the many ways that Birds use their Beaks! Birds are a class of vertebrates with more than 18000 different species. Of the various features that

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Use your observation skills to see the development of the chick during the month.

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Find out how baby birds break through the egg

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Learn About Baby Birds | Nat Geo Kids Birds Playlist

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Photo: Mick Thompson/Audubon Photography Awards

Credits: All illustrations © David Allen Sibley. All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman © 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Bird call audio © Lang Elliott & Associates. Photography sourced in part from VIREO, the worldwide bird photography collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

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Photo: Mick Thompson/Audubon Photography Awards Credits: All illustrations © David Allen Sibley. All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman © 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Bird call audio © Lang Elliott & Associates.

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In Japan, sea-eagles eat both fish and carrion. Overfishing by humans in Japanese waters has led the birds to scavenge on sika deer remains left by hunters. Eating carrion filled with lead shot from hunters has had devastating effects on the sea-eagle population, leading to the outlawing of lead ammunition on Japan's Hokkaido Island.

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Haliaeetus pelagicus

The Steller's Sea-Eagle is a massive and powerful raptor of northeastern Asia, this species has wandered a few times to North America, with strays found along the Alaskan coast on occasion. They are one of the largest raptors in the world, reaching weights of close to 20 pounds with wingspans of over 8 feet. Like the Bald Eagle of North America, Steller's Sea-Eagles, often congregate on river systems in the fall to take advantage of massive numbers of dead salmon that have spawned.

Habitat: During breeding season in northeastern Asia, Steller's Sea-Eagles either will nest along coastlines, or along rivers with adjacent mature forest land. During migration and in winter, they are often found on coastlines, rivers and water bodies around Japan, and even on the open sea-ice. Some birds also move to mountainous regions in the winter, where they evidently feed heavily on deer that die during harsh winters.

Diet: Steller's Sea-Eagles feed heavily on fish, and also will take many water birds, including birds as large as cranes, geese, and swans. They will also opportunistically feed on a variety of mammals, squid, crabs, carrion, and even young seals.

Behavior: Steller's Sea-Eagles forage by observing from a perch, or flying, diving to grab a fish or other prey item in their powerful talons. They will also steal fish and other prey from other bird species, or feed heavily on dead fish, dead dear, or other carrion when the opportunity arises.

Nesting: Steller's Sea-Eagles build massive stick nests, either on a cliff or in a large tree. Both parents help to raise the young.

Migration: Some birds are non-migratory, especially those that nest along coastlines. However, other birds do migrate, with some birds moving to Japan or Korea, and others making altitudinal migrations.

Similar Species: White-tailed Eagle, Bald Eagle

Conservation Status: The IUCN lists the Steller's Sea-Eagle as "Vulnerable". Populations have been moderately declining due to habitat loss. They are also susceptible to lead poisoning, as they will readily feed on deer and other carrion that have been shot by hunters. Total global populations are likely well below 10,000.

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steller sea eagle haliaeetus pelagicus photo photograph picture south dakota bird information

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Haliaeetus pelagicus The Steller's Sea-Eagle is a massive and powerful raptor of northeastern Asia, this species has wandered a few times to North America, with strays found along the Alaskan coast on occasion. They are one of the largest raptors in the world, reaching weights of close to 20 pounds with wingspans of over 8 feet.

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From helpful bird species profiles to expert tips on attracting birds to your yard - we have all the information you need to start birding.

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hi

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that picture is cool