The Discover Birds Program Visits Sevierville Primary School!

The Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society visited Sevierville Primary School on May 9th, 2014, to present the Discover Birds Program to 260 second graders and 13 teachers!

Above, volunteer Chris Welsh talks with students before their bird walks and tells them what to look for when they're watching birds. Color, size, length of tail, crest or no crest, and the color of the beak are some of the many ways that birds can be recognized and remembered.  
Volunteer, Doug Schneeberger, passes out Naturalist Pocket Guides on Tennessee Birds for students to share and use as reference to identify birds on their bird walks.   Most of the birds they saw on their bird walks could be found in the pocket guides.

Below, volunteer Tony King, assists students in viewing Cedar Waxwings through the birding telescope. The scope brings the bird closer and allows students to see even the color of the bird's eyes from a distance away.

An American Robin, below, stares back.  Students noticed the yellow color of its beak, his dark head, red breast and white markings around his eyes.  Talking about these observations aids memory and makes it more likely the robin will be recognized the next time it is seen.

Below, Warren Bielenberg, gives his student group an introduction to their bird walk activities.  A Common Yellowthroat, a yellow warbler with a black mask, was heard throughout the day singing, "witchity, witchity, witchity, witch".  Students in one of Warren's bird walk groups saw this bird while on their bird walk.

The students were divided and rotated through the three parts of the program:  a slide presentation introducing birds, a bird treasures program with bird-related items the students could see up close, and a bird walk to find birds and view them through binoculars and telescopes.  

Above, Billie Cantwell, talks about bird habitat, bird beaks, legs and feet, and shows the many different varities of birds we can find.  Her program also includes listening to the calls and songs of some of the birds. Many students recognized the birds and knew their names. 

Above and below, Paula Schneeberger, talks about bird eggs, talons, different kinds of feet and how they function and many other fun facts about birds.  For example, a perching bird has three toes in the front and one in the back for grasping a perch.  A woodpecker usually has two toes in the front and two in the back to help in climbing tree trunks.  

Paula's bird items include an egg display, cast impressions of bird feet, bird skulls, bird castings or pellets (containing hair and bones the bird can't digest), nests, feathers and other items for the students to see up close.  

On their bird walks, students enjoyed seeing birds at a distance away through the scope, seeing more of the vivid color and detail.  Some of the birds, like one Rough-winged Swallow, perched for a long period so that all the students got a look through the scope.  Others, flew away more quickly, giving students opportunity to watch for movement and locate another bird.  

The Blue Jay above came to the bird bath for a drink.  Blue Jays have a tall crest of feathers on their head.   The jay above has his crest lowered. During nesting season, a jay often lowers its crest and makes soft squeaky sounds around its nest and mate.

Binoculars help bring birds closer so you can see more characteristics for identification.  The way a bird moves and their songs also help in identifying birds.

Sevierville Primary School has a wonderful outdoor classroom.  The school yard has many nest boxes, feeders and bird baths to attract birds.  Tree swallows and bluebirds were nesting in some of the nestboxes and other birds were coming to feeders and visiting the bird bath.

Tree swallows have beautiful iridescent feathers that shine green and blue in the light.  Chris explained that the feathers are not actually blue but the structure of the feather reflects the light so that our eyes only see the blue in the color spectrum.

The tree swallows were very cooperative and went about their nesting activities while we watched and continued our bird walks in the area. Tree swallow flight is fun to watch. They fly fast with lots of turns and twists to catch insects. They even dip down to drink water while in flight.

A big thank you to Sarah Green, her fellow second grade teachers, and Sevierville Primary School for inviting the Discover Birds Program to return for a second year.  All of the students received a Discover Birds Activity Book, compliments of the Knoxville TOS.  A big thank you, also, to our Discover Birds volunteers:  Chris Welsh, Tony King, Denise Nauman, Paula Schneeberger, Doug Schneeberger, Billie Cantwell, Warren Bielenberg and Vickie Henderson.

Chris Welsh recorded the birds he saw during the morning on eBird.  These reports help scientists learn where birds are located and how their populations are doing.  On our Sevierville Primary School bird walks we saw or heard a total of 32 bird species!

3  Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
5  Mourning Dove
3  Chimney Swift
1  Red-bellied Woodpecker
1  Northern Flicker
1  Eastern Phoebe
     Nest under bridge
     NY Confirmed--Nest with Young
2  Eastern Kingbird
3  Blue Jay
2  American Crow
2  Northern Rough-winged Swallow
5  Tree Swallow
     Breeding Code
     ON Confirmed--Occupied Nest
3  Barn Swallow
2  Carolina Chickadee
1  White-breasted Nuthatch
1  Carolina Wren
2  Eastern Bluebird
     Breeding Code
     ON Confirmed--Occupied Nest
3  American Robin
1  Gray Catbird
1  Northern Mockingbird
5  European Starling
9  Cedar Waxwing
2  Common Yellowthroat
      heard only
1  Yellow Warbler
4  Song Sparrow
2  Northern Cardinal
2  Blue Grosbeak
3  Red-winged Blackbird
1  Eastern Meadowlark
      heard only
4  Common Grackle
2  Brown-headed Cowbird
2  House Finch
1  House Sparrow

Links and Resources:

Tennessee Birds
Discover Birds Program
Discover Birds Activity Book
Discover Birds Curriculum Guide
Waterford Press Naturalist Pocket Guides
Sevierville Primary School
Knoxvile Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society
Tennessee Ornithological Society

Rocky Hill Elementary Students Discover Birds

On November 16th, 2012, six Knoxville Tennessee Ornithological Society (KTOS) members met at Rocky Hill Elementary School to present the Discover Birds Program to six (all) first grade classes at the school.

Image credit:  Mark Campen

Volunteers Tom Howe, Chris Welsh, Mark Campen and Tony King set up spotting scopes and binoculars outside for one-third of the students, while the rest of the students enjoyed Billie Cantwell's slide show about birds or Paula Schneeberger's bird treasure chest. Each class enjoyed the three separate learning activities as they rotated from one activity to another at the appointed time.

Above, American Robin

The four outside volunteers had small bird walk groups of six to eight children each as they helped the children discover birds around the school yard and view them through binoculars and birding scopes.  Some of the children learned to recognize the bird songs they heard.  Inside, Billie's slide show showed the students how different birds can be with a variety of feather colors, beak sizes and leg lengths, as well as, different
nests and baby birds.  Paula, a naturalist educator, offered a treasure chest of bird items that the children could see up close and explore including bird talons, eggs, feathers and stuffed specimens.

Image credit:  Mark Campen

Each classroom teacher was given a welcome packet developed by Billie Cantwell, including Discover Birds Project information, a sample lesson plan, a 2013 Wild Birds Unlimited calendar and newsletter, a Cornell poster of common feeder birds, Watchable Wildlife items, and a KTOS brochure.  After the program, each student received a Discover Birds Activity book from their teacher.  The cost of the activity books were sponsored by KTOS club member donations.

KTOS Newsletter article describing Rocky Hill Discover Birds Program
Rocky Hill Elementary School
Knoxvile Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society
Tennessee Ornithological Society
Cornell:  American Robin