Whether you’re an avid bird watcher or a novice, you may be excited to start researching the local birds in your area. This can also be a great outdoor activity to do with your children! Kids of all ages can enjoy being out in nature, and figuring out which bird they may see in the trees.
Getting Started
If you are a beginner to bird watching, there isn’t a lot you necessarily need to get started. A book of birds to help you identify may come in handy, as you may not always have adequate cell or Wi-Fi service to look the information up on your phone. A good pair of sunglasses and sunscreen would be ideal as well, depending on which season you’re out exploring. Your children may need an extra layer of sunscreen too, since their skin is much more sensitive to an adult’s skin.
These are the absolute basics you would need, and can always add more gadgets for you and your children. A pair of binoculars can come in handy if you’ve got a lot of tall trees to search through. You may want a journal to keep record of your findings or for more exposition, although you can also use your cell phone. The same goes for any pictures you take – your cell phone will most likely take great photos, but if you want to have a separate camera for your birding pics, feel free! If you have an artistic flair, you may want a notebook and pencils to draw the birds you find, or for your kids to draw them! It’ll make it a fun way for them to interpret what they see onto paper!
Seeing Birds
Although you may have guides or books to help you identify birds, you can also utilize your phone with a birding app too. It may be a good idea to also find some quick picture references to some of your local birds to print. These can be copies for your younger children to reference, and can be bigger in size for them to easily identify these birds while out and about.
You can get your children involved in the actual bird watching as much as you can or however much they want to participate. If they are a little younger, they may not have much of an attention span for spending hours birding, but they will definitely pay attention. It’s usually best to begin birding earlier in the morning, but work with what your schedule allows. Just getting out and enjoying nature with your kids is always fun, no matter how many birds you may see!
Katie Kyzivat