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Singing, chirping, squawking, knocking- surely you have heard these melodious sounds early in the morning. Sound is very important in the world of birds. They rely on sound for their very survival!
Why do birds sing?
To claim their territory-
“This is my space!”
To sound an alarm that a predator is nearby
“Look out!”
To attract a mate &/or sing a duet with a partner
“Look at me!”
To communicate between pairs or flocks
“Let’s stay together!”
How do birds sing?
Birds have a special organ called a syrinx that is at the top of the bird’s windpipe. As air comes into the windpipe it causes the thin membrane to vibrate and make sound.
Some interesting facts:
*Did you know that a Northern Cardinal can sing more notes than are on a piano in just a tenth of a second?
* Some species of birds like the mockingbird can mimic man-made sounds like sirens, construction noises
*Birds can also communicate with their actions as well-the Great Blue Heron bow to each other in greeting at the nest
Mnemonics is a method often used to help identify and remember bird calls. Many of us know the sound, “caw” for a crow and “cock-a-doodle-doo” for a rooster for example. Check out some more examples!
Once you have learned some of the mnemonics you can use the bird calls and songs in -educational and fun-
Outdoor Games & Activities:
Towhee Game-
One child is chosen to be the Towhee bird. The Towhee holds an egg-like object in their hand and closes their eyes and sings “Towhee, Towhee drink your tea” (this is the tune a Towhee sings-look it up!). The other children are the weasels attempting to take the egg and quickly and quietly approach like the game Red Light Green Light. After singing the Towhee opens their eyes and if they see movement from a weasel that weasel is sent back to the start. If the egg is missing from the Towhee’s open hand, the Towhee has one chance to guess who has it. The weasels are all working cooperatively and often hand off the ‘egg’ to another to try to confuse the Towhee. Continue playing taking turns to be the Towhee.
This is another wonderful game to help develop motor skills as well as body awareness and self regulation.
* Be sure to use the resources to check out the actual sound of a Towhee and what it looks like.
Birding Chorus Game
Introduce your children to some bird calls that they may hear in your local area. An excellent resource for all things bird related is Cornell Lab and an easy resource to use for bird sounds can be found here
Let the children listen to the sound as they see a photograph of the bird- to help them make a connection. Use the mnemonics page to help write out the sound for each bird you want for the bird chorus. Each child can select a bird call to perfect or work on with a partner. Grab a couple of sticks from outdoors and conduct a bird chorus. The conductor points to each child (bird) with the sticks when it is their turn to begin their call. If the conductor raises the sticks high in the air the “birds” make their sounds loudly and as they lower them the level decreases. A big dramatic crossing of the sticks and all sound stops. Children really enjoy this and learn a lot from the activity aside from how to identify local birds - self-regulation, decoding, phonetics and collaboration are all skills developed during Bird Chorus.
*Be sure to do this outdoors so the sounds are clear and travel just like the birds!
Birding Walk Activity
Use all of the skills you have developed to go bird watching. Listen for the calls and try to identify birds in your neighborhood. Bring along a bird guide or use a phone app to help in identifying. Keep a record in a nature journal of all the birds you have seen/heard or print out pictures of each bird found and post on a wall near a window (with binoculars nearby) so the children can readily identify birds. Put up a feeder outside the window and your children will have the opportunity to observe and listen to many varieties of birds and you will be helping the bird population in your area. (Audubon is a wonderful resource to help you select the best bird guide)
& To help you capture all your beautiful birding moments- check out Chipper Birds for the top birding cameras available!
Special thanks to Kim Zieg for her beautiful bird photographs
We don’t typically promote online computer games keeping kids indoors, but these are really awesome games and resources-
from the Bird Academy
