Birds of the Estuary Kit

Recommended for grades 2-adult
Learn about these amazing winged creatures and what makes them different from all other living things. Both coastal and inland birds are explored through a variety of hands on activities, classroom exercises, and other media in this long-awaited education kit. Use in the field and classroom.

Activities:

  1. Hidden Feathers - Using creativity and imagination, students decide what color feathers birds need to survive.
  2. Name that Bill - A bird's beak determines what it eats. and often indicates where it lives.
  3. Drawing Connections - A companion to the above activity.
  4. Build a Bird - One student in the classroom is "transformed" into a bird by their peers, using everyday props to illustrate the many unique adaptations birds have.
  5. My Imaginary Bird - Using their knowledge of bird adaptations, this art activity stimulates creativity and appreciation for all birds.
  6. The Great Migration - Identify limiting factors affecting populations of migrating water birds.
  7. Cut 'N Create - Metaphorical thinking and writing leads to understanding how our own bodies also have adaptations for survival.
  8. What do Owls Eat?? Identify bones in owl pellets to find out if an owl fed on birds or rodents.

Resources:

  1. Shorebirds - Migratory Super Heroes! USFWS. A student activity guide full of fun games and puzzles.
  2. Owl Pellet Dissection Kit. Acorn Naturalists. Examine what an owl eats.after the fact! Includes forceps, safe for student use.
  3. Clover the Snowy Plover CD. Oregon Coast Aquarium. A touching and informative story of natural history and human impact.
  4. Bird Watching and Listening Tips. Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve. Prepare for your first field observation trip with this expert advice.
  5. Artic Nesting Shorebirds Slide Show CD. USFWS. A fascinating look at changes in plumage through the seasons.
  6. How Birds Migrate. Kerlinger. A scientific look into the mysteries of migration.
  7. Birds, Nests and Eggs. Boring. A young person's colorful first guidebook to birds.
  8. Birds in your Backyard. Herkert. Students can make their own home a place that feathered friends like to visit.
  9. Hunters of the Sky. Acorn Naturlists. An Activity Guide on Birds of Prey.
  10. Winged Migration, DVD. Jacques Perrin productions. Nominated for a 2002 Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature.
  11. Framed Bird Feathers. THS student-created. An up close and personal look at the feathers of two birds common to Tillamook County.
  12. Field guides. Waterford Press. Fold out guide to familiar species, plus a simple laminated field guide for the very young.
 

The Tillamook Estuaries Partnership as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, is dedicated to the
conservation and restoration of Tillamook County's estuaries and watersheds in their entirety.

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