Discover Birds Visits 240 Students at Sevierville Primary School!

Seven volunteers from the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society visited Sevierville Primary School on May 23rd to present the Discover Birds Program to 240 second graders and their teachers! 

Photo by Tom Howe

Students were divided into groups to rotate through the three parts of the program, a slide show introduction to birds, a show-and-tell session with bird related items, and a guided bird walk.  

 Photo by Warren Bielenberg.

Suzie Kaplar introduces students to birds with a slide show.  Photo by Tom Howe.

Photo by Warren Bielenberg.  Doug Schneeberger, above, talks with students about bird skeletons, feathers, nests, eggs and other items that are passed around for students to see closely.

Students were equipped with binoculars and bird ID cards to help them see and identify birds as they broke into small groups of twelve for their bird walks.  Bird walks were led by Chris Welsh, Tony King, Warren Bielenberg, Kris Johnson and Tom Howe.  

Photo by Warren Bielenberg

Tom described his experience with students:  "It was great fun with great weather. The students had awe-inspiring looks at birds through the spotting scopes including Tree Swallows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Mourning Doves and an Eastern Kingbird. Students saw many more birds with binoculars, including Chimney Swifts, Blue Jays, Eastern Towhees and Carolina Chickadees. The big birds elicited the biggest response--a monstrous great blue heron, a red-tailed hawk and turkey vultures!" 

Photo by Tom Howe

"Sarah Greene, the lead teacher, filled the school's bird feeders and put seed on the classroom window sills which afforded many good looks at a variety of birds. Shortly after explaining how pishing provokes birds into mobbing behavior, because, it's believed, that it sounds like a wren scolding a predator, we saw a Red-winged Blackbird chasing off a predatory Red-tailed Hawk by dive-bombing it. Other highlights included Chris Welsh finding a gray catbird's nest and showing the students a picture he took of the eggs, explaining, it's best not to disturb a nest with a crowd. We had a great time and look forward to next year!"

Above, Warren shows students a bird they've identified on their ID guide.  Photo by Tom Howe

Photo by Warren Bielenberg

Warren described the students as very knowledgeable about birds and nature and interested, asking many questions.  "I think we ended up with about 25 species during the morning.  We, had great views of Eastern bluebirds and Tree swallows in the birdhouses.  Carolina chickadees, Mourning doves, Northern Cardinals and Eastern Towhees were seen at the feeders.  We also found some spittlebugs, caterpillars, raccoon tracks and scat. All in all, a good morning!"

Above, Tree Swallows in the process of nest building on the Sevierville Primary School campus.

A big thank you to Sarah Green and her fellow teachers at Sevierville Primary School for inviting the Discover Birds Program into their classrooms and for sharing their bird-friendly outdoor campus.
Each student and teacher received a Discover Birds Activity Book, compliments of KTOS.

Thank you also to KTOS Discover Birds volunteers Susie Kaplar, Tony King, Chris Welsh, Kris Johnson, Warren Bielenberg, Doug Schneeberger and Tom Howe for making this program happen!

Links and Resources:

Sevierville Primary School

KTOS--Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society
KTOS on Facebook
Discover Birds Program
Discover Birds Activity Book
online version--Discover Birds Activity Book
Discover Birds Curriculum Guide
Discover Birds in the Tennessee Conservationist
eBird at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Tennessee Birds
Tennessee Watchable Wildlife--Birds
Cornell's free beginning birding app--Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Audubon Mobile Field Guides

Discover Birds Inspires Second Grade Art and Research!

In May of 2015, the KTOS Discover Birds Program visited Sevierville Primary School for the third consecutive year, enjoying an outstanding morning Discovering Birds with 280 second graders and their teachers.

You may enjoy seeing our morning activities, including a low pass over our heads by a magnificent Bald Eagle at  Sevierville Primary 2015.  This posts revisits that day to show you how some of the students got ready for our visit!

As the program was coming to a close, Ms Kathy Porter, second grade teacher, caught my attention and showed me a bulletin board filled with her students' art and research.  I was so happy she showed it to me!

In preparation for our upcoming Discover Birds Program, her students each selected a bird from anywhere in the world, researched the bird on the internet, drew the bird and wrote about what they learned.  The results of their efforts were beautifully displayed as "Birds of a Feather Flock Together!"

I wanted to read every word and savor the art the way I would a gallery of art in a museum! Everyone's work was so creative!  I will share a few of them here, but they were all wonderful!

Hummingbirds were a favorite bird selected.  "Let me tell you about hummingbirds." one artist wrote. "A hummingbird sings with its wings."

"Some hover like bees." another wrote.  "They lick nectar with its quick tongues.  Bugs get licked too."

Some of the birds chosen were selected for their unique feathers or behavior.

"Male Peacocks find an enemy and they shoot their feathers up and it looks [like] eyes watching them."

"A Roseate Spoonbill is a wading bird.  It has long legs to keep it high above the water.  It also has a big beak to help it catch fish....A Roseate Spoonbill swings its beak underwater."

"The Yellow-billed Woodpecker eats only ticks and other bugs [on the animals] it rides.  The animals it rides are giraffes, zebras and oxen.  The Yellow-billed Woodpecker lives in Africa because the big animals it rides live there....They clean the heads of the animals they ride."

"Wild parrots live in North America, South America, Australia, Asia and Africa.  The Macaws are the biggest parrots.  Wild parrots screech when they try to talk....Many parrots wear brilliant green, yellow, red and blue."

"Flamingos are pink and reddish.  They live in Asia, Africa and North America.  They live near mud and water.  Flamingos like to sit in water."

A big thank you to Sevierville Primary School and Ms Porter for sharing their students' creative work with us!

Links and Resources:

Discover Birds Visits Sevierville Primary School
Sevierville Primary School

Discover Birds Program

Discover Birds Activity Book
Discover Birds Curriculum Guide
Discover Birds in the Tennessee Conservationist

Discover Birds Visits 280 Second Graders at Sevierville Primary School!

On May 15, 2015, Discover Birds volunteers from the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society visited Sevierville Primary School to present the Discover Birds Program to 280 enthusiastic second graders and their teachers!

The Discover Birds Program is a three-part program to introduce children to birds with a variety of interactive experiences.  The program is presented in three parts:  a slide show, a show-and-tell session and a bird walk that includes the use of binoculars and birding scopes.

Above, Billie Cantwell asks children about their favorite birds.  She then presents a slide show showing a variety of birds that live in different habitats with a variety of sizes, shapes, beaks and feet. 

The children also get to hear the bird's songs and stories about birds that Billie has in her own yard, including wintering Rufous Hummingbirds and a pair of nesting Screech Owls.

The children are divided into three to four groups to include a guided bird walk around the school grounds to find birds and learn to locate them with binoculars.  Above you see students practicing with their binoculars.  The Discover Birds Program recently acquired twelve new pair of student binoculars through a generous donation from the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological society and a matching donation from Eagle Optics.

Above Chris Welsh leads students on a bird walk along the creek that borders the school grounds. Among the birds found on our bird walks was the Mourning Dove, a bird whose name comes from the "mournful" sound of its song.

Sometimes the doves were seen on the electrical wires overhead.  At other times, they visited the bird bath.  At first glance the Mourning Dove looks like a large plain brown bird with some dark spots on its back.  

A closer look through binoculars or a scope shows that it is a colorful bird with a light blue eye ring, pink at the corner of its bill and pink feet!

Below, Doug Schneeberger shows students the difference between the size of a Bald Eagle egg (left) and the egg of a hummingbird.  The hummingbird's egg is about the size of a jelly bean.  The eggs he is showing are replicas of eggs made to the size and color of the actual bird's eggs.

Doug brought a variety of skeletons, samples of talons, eggs, nests, and other bird-related items to show the children, many of which were in cases and passed around for closer inspection.

Below, a display of owl pellet castings and the skulls and bones that can be found in them.  Owls eat small rodents with hair and bones that can't be digested.  These indigestible parts are gathered into a pellet in the owl's stomach and "cast" out or "thrown up" to expel them.

Below, Warren Bielenberg gets his telescope focused on a Tree Swallow perched on a wire so the students can see its shiney greenish-blue feathers that often look black in flight.

Sevierville Primary School has created a bird-friendly yard with many nest boxes erected to support cavity nesting birds.  A pair of Eastern Bluebirds, below, were on the nest box they have chosen for nesting.  The bright blue male is on the left in back, and the female, more grayish in color, is in the front.  Both the male and female have a rust breast.

Tree Swallows are also cavity nesting birds.  On the walk along the creek we encountered a male Tree Swallow bringing feathers to his mate who was waiting in the nest box.  Tree Swallows form a nest of dry grasses that is hollowed out and lined with feathers.  The feathers are often placed so that they curve over the nest.  In Massachusetts, 147 feathers were counted in one nest box!

Below, volunteer Karen Wilkinson talks with second grade students as they view birds through a scope.

Students rotated through each of the activities.  Below, Chris Welsh helps students get organized into smaller groups with an assigned leader for their bird walks.

As students looked at birds through binoculars and scopes, Chris asked them what they noticed about the bird.  What color is the bird?  What color is it's beak?  Can you see the eye color?  Is the bird large or small?  These details help you recognize the bird the next time you encounter it.

Above, a student tells Karen Wilkenson about the birds he saw on the creek trail.
(Don't miss the feet in the air behind him!  One of the students was turning cartwheels as she returned from her birding walk!)

Above, Morton Massey leads a group of birders back to the school!

A mature Bald Eagle treated us to a low fly-over carrying food in its talons with a small bird chasing it!  This was an exciting sighting for all of us!

A pair of Bald Eagles                                       Photo credit:  David Roemer

All the students knew that the Bald Eagle is our country's national symbol.

Chris Welsh recorded an eBird list of the birds he encountered on our bird walks.  Thirty-one (31) species of birds were found in and around the school yard, many of them involved in various stages of nesting activities!

May 15, 2015
Sevierville Primary School
Traveling
0.2 miles
190 Minutes
Observers: 1
All birds reported? Yes
Comments: Discover Birds program for -280 2nd graders at Sevierville Primary School.  Exciting flyby by the eagle; falcon more distant and moving away.
1 Osprey
1 Bald Eagle -- Adult, roof level flyover with something dead in its talons
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Peregrine Falcon -- Large falcon flyover, too big for kestrel or Merlin, but no details other than silhouette
4 Mourning Dove
1 Chimney Swift
2 Red-bellied Woodpecker
2 Downy Woodpecker
3 Eastern Phoebe -- 2 young in nest under bridge
1 Blue Jay
2 American Crow
2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
3 Tree Swallow
1 Barn Swallow
1 Carolina Chickadee
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
2 Eastern Bluebird
2 American Robin
2 Gray Catbird
1 Brown Thrasher
5 European Starling
1 Common Yellowthroat
2 Eastern Towhee
2 Song Sparrow
2 Northern Cardinal
1 Red-winged Blackbird
3 Common Grackle
4 Brown-headed Cowbird
2 House Finch
2 American Goldfinch
2 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)

Each of the students and teachers received a Discover Birds Activity Book compliments of KTOS and the Tennessee Ornithological Society!

A big thank you to Sarah Green and her fellow teachers at Sevierville Primary School for inviting the Discover Birds Program into their classrooms.  THANK YOU also to KTOS Discover Birds volunteers Susie Kaplar, Morton Massey, Chris Welsh, Warren Bielenberg, Karen Wilkinson, Billie Cantwell, Doug Schneeberger and Vickie Henderson for making this program happen!

Links and Resources:

Sevierville Primary School

KTOS--Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society
KTOS on Facebook
Discover Birds Program
Discover Birds Activity Book
Discover Birds Curriculum Guide
Discover Birds in the Tennessee Conservationist
eBird at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Tennessee Birds
Tennessee Watchable Wildlife--Birds
Cornell's free beginning birding app--Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Audubon Mobile Field Guides

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