BIRD & NESTS UNIT STUDY

Birds are such beautiful and amazing little friends. We see them in our yards and hear them chirping and singing. They have some of the most unique qualities and they make for a perfect Bird & Nests Unit Study!

Walk outside or open the window for just a few minutes. Most days you will quickly see and hear all types of birds singing in your yard!!

They are one of the perfect lures to get your kids outdoors too!

We have many hawks that fly near us and actually have a bald Eagle that lives nearby. When these guys start flying, my kids always stop what they are doing to watch in awe.

What to Study about Birds & Nests

There are many topics of study on birds. I have pulled together resources that are mostly specific to birds and their nests.

When you start to consider how to prepare a Bird & Nests Unit Study you should consider the area where you live and choose the birds common there.

I live in New England and we have the small finches, robins, and black-capped chickadees that visit our yard daily.

Books

I strongly recommend a Nature Guide for your area to help you study local birds and nests. Below are a few that are great resources. This

Stories about Birds & nests are also a fun addition to a unit study. Kids enjoy the personification of animals in their own habitat. It really brings the experience to life.

Printables

When doing a birds & nests unit study, you will want to spend time observing some birds.

Embark on the Journey has a fun set of printables that has pictures, games, and coloring pages.
Encouraging Moms at Home has some bird notebooking pages
The Homeschool Compass has a spring pack that contains a “label the bird” page and other outdoor activities.
Muse Printables has a simple page that you can use watercolors or other coloring mediums.

Bird & Nest Hands-On Activities

There are lots of options for hands-on activities in a Bird & Nest Unit Study.

TRIPS OUTSIDE

The easiest one is to just venture outside with some birdseed and wait for all the beautifully colored cardinals, chickadees, and blue jays visit your home.

Heading out to your backyard or to the woods for a hike is the perfect place to do some bird-watching. You can also head to your local Zoo for a visit to the aviary.

Ask your kids to engage their senses when in the woods or at the zoo. Have them close their eyes to listen, smell, and feel their surroundings.

BIRD FEEDERS

To attract different birds to your yard you can try different types of seeds and feeders. You can build a birdhouse or buy one that you set up near a window to watch for your feathered friends.

You can create these simple Pinecone Birdfeeders too.

BUILD A BIRDS NEST

This is a super fun activity that you can do with your kids! You can collect items right in your yard or on a nature hunt.

sticks & twigs
long grasses
dried leaves
feathers

Once you have collected some items, use a brown paper lunch bag as the base. Crumple it up and make it like a bowl. Then let the kids weave and twist lots of the nature items to create a soft nest for birds eggs.

You can even pick up some small plastic birds at the craft store to let the kids do some imaginary play with.

We also dissected an owl pellet one year and it was pretty incredible. You can check out some resources for this at the Owl Pellet Store.

Online Resources

WEBSITES

Check out these websites and let your kids see and discover all of the incredible ways about birds.

All About Birds -This website has live webcams, courses you can take, how to pick the best bird feeders, and information on any bird you search.
Bird Watching HQ is a fun site with more livecams you can watch
National Geo Kids has a Birds section. Here, kids can find slide shows and information on all kids of birds.
Bird-Sounds.net is where you can listen to the calls and songs of different birds.