Migrations, Births, Babies, Spring

Tuesday April 21, 2020

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a31707926/birds-science-nerds/
Engineering. How Does the Bird Nest Qualify as a feat of engineering?

<https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/whats-new> 
see facts and the MATH BELOW, CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY. I.E. THE STUDY OF BIRDS. 

• 10,721 SPECIES ACCOUNTS. The platform merges deep scientific content from more than 10,000 Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive species accounts with 766 Birds of North America accounts and 4,205 Neotropical Birds accounts.
• 249 BIRD FAMILY ACCOUNTS. Our new Bird Families of the World section provides overviews of all 249 bird families, including the taxonomic history and illustrations of every species. Close examination of these family overviews a great way to learn about avian biodiversity and learn the intricacies of field identification. Our experts have updated and expanded the content from its original appearance in print.
• INTELLIGENT MAPS. All species accounts have a general range map sourced from either eBird or HBW Alive/BirdLife, and you can expect a growing number of science-based abundance maps and animated migration maps that will help you understand the distribution, abundance, and movements of birds at scales never before possible. Watching birds migrate at a continental scale is now possible thanks to eBird science products.
• ILLUSTRATIONS/COLOR PLATES. Did we mention the illustrations?! Thanks to the magnificent scientific illustrators who originally worked with HBW Alive, we now have available an illustration of every species and many subspecies in the world. This 21,000-strong set is an incredible collection. 

Apps to find out more. 
ebird 
MerlinBirdID
iNaturalist, for observations. 

If you have binoculars how can you see birds better? if not, what Strategies will help you find birds in Nature? 
Find a safe person to go with, and go Look.
Can you hear the birds singing?
What sounds do they make?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkw5Y9vkkm8
which is the Superb Iirebird?
How many imitations can it imitate?

Wherever you are little creatures are having families and searching out high quality food where they can.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has video cams set up in a variety of North American places. You can watch the cams and talk about migrations and hatchlings.

<https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/how-to-make-these-next-few-weeks-a-little-easier-courtesy-of-birds/>

https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/whats-new
https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/science/complex-society-discovered-in-birds/ https://celebrateurbanbirds.org

https://www.audubon.org/news/when-its-okay-or-not-feed-birds
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/silent-skies-billions-of-north-american-birds-have-vanished/
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/northern-cardinal
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/birds-are-getting-smaller-scientists-see-echo-climate-change-n1096726

After your morning schedule is done you can go on a walk to find any signs of nature in your area. 

Then you can identify what is growing.

Edibles, Grass, Dandelions, herbs? What is coming up green?

What do birds eat nearby?
How has their appearance affected fashion?
What are they used for for human consumption. A source of Protein, Feathers for Hats, What else?
What are some eaten and others not?


https://phys.org/news/2019-11-feathers-propel-birds-air-history.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/

LEARNING GAMES. Cornell Lab of Ornithology

<https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/learning-games/?utm_source=aab#_ga=2.13555319.1154552142.1587466059-365672911.1587466059>

these are great and defined by age.
Ways to keep birds from running into your windows. BIRD SCREENS www.collidescape.org

LOOKING AROUND THE WORLD. HOW DO PLANEs take their Engineering From BIRDS?
Do they resemble birds? How?
Does copying a bird translate to a Plane? How are feathers engineered by nature?
An Owl Makes no noise as it swoops Down on it's prey, Because it's Feathers are many and soft and "Jagged" edges.
HOWEVER. A Bird of Prey, Makes a lot of noise as it dives, it has hard edges to the wind.

Reference,Origin. 2 Birds of Prey lectures, Clinton and Orange, CT.
https://www.aplacecalledhoperaptors.com

Birds, Bees, & Butterflies and all flies, etc, BUGS!
Which are pollinators?
Which break down compost and trees to become soil?
Worms? How do they irrigate (Bring Oxygen and Nutrients to soil, which helps our food grow.
How Does INSECTICIDE (kills bugs)/HERBICIDE(kills Plants)/ and Fertilizer, from Animal waste, Kill and fertilizer bring Nutrients to Feed Growth in our food?

https://www.afar.com/magazine/how-to-go-bird-watching-from-home-during-quarantine?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=041920%20LifeinLockdownPart2&utm_term=Daily%20Wander%20%28Have%20opened%20newsletter%20before%29

An hour long YouTube piece on this article above. 102 speeches of birds in Northern Columbia. South America
https://youtu.be/T-jn1_thxK8


How does this affect humans? Animals? Insects? Birds?

Migration. Species.
The Monarchs (Butterfly species) journey from Mexico to North America.

What other butterfly species can you find around the world? Moths, Flies, Mosquitos? Other bugs? 

Salamanders? Frogs? Turtles?

I our neighborhood we have a fish ladder where Herrings and eels return here to spawn, lay their eggs and the older generation dies. They help give nutrients back to the lake and stream bottoms, and the new generation spend a little time in the lake before heading all the way back to the Sargasso Sea. 

From, Margaret Roach's Blog. https://awaytogarden.com an amazing bird-mad adventure with noah strycker.
In one very action-packed year of more than 100,000 miles of global travel, Noah Strycker (then just 29 years old) saw 6,042 species of birds, which represents 58.3 percent of the world’s avian diversity. Yes, one man in one year.

Humans, Homo sapiens, an animal, and other Animals Migrate.
Animals in other parts of the world have other migrations. See which you can find on each continent.

Africa

South America

Aisa

Europe

North America

The Pacific and other Islands

Antartica

Talk about the March 21 Equinox and the Spring sun, see the blog post from last week that talks about the Seasons and the path Earth takes around the Sun, and how this affects how we experience seasons.

Why do we plant food in The Northern Hemisphere now?

We are all animals. How do we fit in to Earth’s Ecosystem? 

What good things do Humans contribute?

Detrimental/bad things that are a result of Human’s Actions?

Write a 5 or more sentences about this.
Where?
What?
Why?
When?
How?

ACTIVITIES. Make birds, photograph, observe. The Art Aspect. 
https://celebrateurbanbirds.org/learn/arts/art-activities-for-youth/

Tomorrow is Earth Day.

We will talk about things we can do to help Earth recover from the devastation Humans Cause to Earth.

Make it a great day.
Thanks for checking in,
Eliza