A KID'S GUIDE TO BACKYARD BIRDS

A KID'S GUIDE TO BACKYARD BIRDS by Eliza Berkowitz. Illustrated by Nicole LaRue.

We love to watch the birds around our house. We live in the middle of the woods, so bird interactions are a daily happening. Guides have always been a must have for us for identification. They can be difficult to maneuver for younger hands or a quick flip. I always keep my eyes open for easier, more manageable editions that can be grabbed quickly, thrown into a nature walk bag, etc. A Kid's Guide to Backyard Birds by Eliza Berkowitz is easy to use with a nice, big illustration of each bird. Just shy of 100 pages it is lightweight, and the format is a large picture on the left with lots of facts on the right. The guide covers a nice selection of common birds across the U.S. There is no index, but since it is so easy to flip through with large illustrations, I don't find this to be a huge drawback!

ALONGSIDE ACTIVITIES- I typically do a bird unit in the winter with my kids. We put out feeders (included in this book is a simple feeding activity), use either a sketch book or Dover Coloring books on North American Birds or Audubon's Birds, and our bird guides. We pick one bird a day to identify. We draw or color the bird, pay attention to behavior patterns at the feeder, look up facts and record them with our picture, and listen to their song/call. I have a book I use that plays the calls, but you can also Google calls to listen to as well.

Fall ACTIVITIES- As the leaves drop, birds become more visible. Nests do as well. Examine birds and nests (leave the nests in place unless they are blown out by wind or storms). Use binoculars to identify building materials, size, etc used in the construction. Make a list of birds that winter in your area and those that migrate. Begin to watch for migration. You can map distances and destinations of bird groups. Distances that birds cover are nothing short of a miracle. There are different ideas as to how birds know where to go (built in by our wonderful Creator!). This can be a fascinating study!

Additional reading you can branch into include books about John J. Audubon. There are beautiful picture books about his life. Owls in the Family is a great read. Saving Jemima was an interesting adult read (I wrote a review on WWR. You can put the title in the search bar).