We will be focusing this week on autumn birds, woodpeckers in particular. Woodpeckers were studied in a more recent challenge but only a handful of families posted entries. I am hoping that you will take this opportunity to complete the woodpecker challenge as part of the Autumn Series even if you think you will not see a woodpecker. Use the Outdoor Time for this challenge to see if you can find any bird to observe. The notebook page included in this challenge can be completed for any bird that you have in your local area.Fun Stuff From the Original Challenge
This is a great video showing chickadees and a downy woodpecker eating out of someone's hand.
Amazing. I would love to be able to do this someday.
This video shows the kind of woodpecker we see in our area. Notice all the acorns he has tucked away inside the tree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4BnRQRRfuE
Additional downy woodpecker videos on Cornell's website:
According to the Cornell All About Birds website, just about everyone in North America has Downy Woodpeckers to observe and the Hairy Woodpecker is very widespread as well. In the area where my family lives, we have Acorn Woodpeckers and Pileated Woodpeckers. Check the Cornell site for your area by typing in "woodpecker" in the search box.
Outdoor Hour Challenge
Autumn Series #7
Downy Woodpecker/Hairy Woodpecker
(Formerly Black and White Bird Challenge)
Inside Preparation Work:
Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 70-74 about the Downy Woodpecker (Note the illustration of the woodpecker’s feet.)
Read in the Handbook of Nature Study the section on bird’s feet, pages 40-42. You may also like to look up this website:
Types of Bird Feet http://fsc.fernbank.edu/Birding/bird_feet.htm
“The feet of birds are shaped so as to assist the bird to get its food as well as for locomotion.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 41
Outdoor Hour Time:
This week during your outdoor time, try to observe some birds and their feet. This might be a good week to visit a duck pond and observe a duck’s feet up close.
I suggest listening to the links above for the Downy Woodpecker and the Hairy Woodpecker and clicking on the audio buttons. Listen to the sounds each bird makes because many times you will hear a woodpecker and not see it. They are many times high up in the branches of the tree and you will be able to observe it but if you know what to listen for, you will identify it by its sound.
Follow Up Activity
Allow time for a nature journal entry using the observation suggestions on page 73 of the Handbook of Nature Study. Use images from your field guide or the internet to sketch the bird more easily. I have provided a simple bird notebook page that can be used with any birds you observe during your outdoor time. You can find the notebook page in the free downloads section of the sidebar of my blog.
Each bird uses its feet in a special way. Make a journal entry featuring the woodpecker's feet. Many children are not at first enthusiastic about sketching in their nature journal and in that case, print off an image from the internet to put onto the journal page. Help the child make a label and the date to complete the entry.
After you finish your challenge, make sure to come back and add your link on Mr. Linky. We would all love to see how the challenge went for your family.
Do not forget that you can always catch up on the Autumn Series Challenges over on my Squidoo Lens. I added some new paintings for your autumn picture study and some new music to listen to as well.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
