SciFest All Access: Habitat Hosts- Bird ID Game

What Birds are These?

“Habitat Host” is an engaging activity meant to educate grade school children about the diversity of migratory bird species, the importance of habitat preservation, and the techniques that professional biologists use in the field. This activity is specifically targeted at students around a third-grade reading level and includes a kid friendly field guide detailing several birds who live in and around Pennsylvania.

For this activity, students will be given either virtual access or a printed copy of the kid-friendly Field Guide. This field guide is very similar to the ones that wildlife biologists use in the field if they are trying to identify an unknown animal species! Allow the children to explore the field guide on their own for a few minutes, becoming accustomed to the types of birds described in it and learning the parts of the bird as described on page 2. It is then time for them to test their field ID skills and try to identify the unknown birds by looking at the pictures above or in the “Birds to Identify” PDF. The students can either flip through a packet or virtual page of these pictures, or (if your student has extra energy) it is even more engaging if you make this a scavenger hunt. Scatter these pictures around a playground, park or backyard and allow your students to explore nature while looking for the unknown bird species. Once a picture is found, the students should be able to match the description of the bird in the field guide to the one they see in front of them. Once a bird is identified, encourage the student to read a little about the bird before moving on. A lot can be learned about each bird species, such as their habitat and food preferences. Each field guide entry even has a coloring page where students can color in each bird as they find them. Continue on through this activity until each bird has been found and identified.

If you are looking for an additional activity, students might also consider completing the “Habitat Worksheet” PDF. This activity is meant to be a thought-provoking follow-up after completing the field ID activity. In this worksheet, students will be asked a series of questions, meant to help them evaluate how suited their surrounding environment is in providing habitat for their identified bird species. Help your student go through the questions and consider what small steps could be taken to improve the habitat. After all, it is our job as habitat hosts to keep our lands preserved while migratory birds are gone for the winter.

Thanks so much for completing the “Habitat Host” activity. I hope you had fun and learned a little something along the way!