PA Young Birders at Rushton Woods Preserve: Beaks and Birds

The PA Young Birders at Rushton Woods Preserve enjoyed another wonderful outing at this Chester County gem on Wednesday, July 13.  A dozen enthusiastic kids joined us to learn all about bird beaks and feeding habits, a fascinating topic.

Blake had set-up different stations which the kids visited to “fill their crops,” i.e., get food!  Each station featured an activity designed to show the variety of ways that birds use their beaks to forage for food.

Groups of 3 took turns at each station to learn and complete an activity.  At one station, the kids extracted insects from a log with tweezers to understand how a woodpecker uses his long, strong bill to get food.  At another, kids tried to catch flung popcorn with open envelopes, mimicing the precise, sharp bill actions of flycatchers.

Two different activities involved cracking nuts and sunflowers with plyers, in the way that blue jays or titmice  do with their wedge-shaped bills, perfect for crushing. Kids enjoyed digging worms from a bowl of oatmeal using chopsticks, like robins probing for their food.

At the last station, it was fun to catch ‘goldfish’ (crackers) with a sieve, in the way that Pelicans scoop fish from the ocean with their large pouched bills.

After this exciting activity, we took a bird walk to see bird beaks in action, hunting for an evening meal.  We watched an Eastern Kingbird (above) and Barn Swallows hawking insects, House Finches and Indigo Bunting searching for seeds amongst the ploughed vegetable patch.  A Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering around honeysuckle and nectaring on tubular flowers provided a live-action lesson!

The evening ended with a brief, informal powerpoint presentation showing various bills and discussion about feeding behaviour, while everyone munched on a deliciously appropriate “gummy worms in the dirt” dessert!  It was an enjoyable evening for everyone – thank you to Blake, Lisa, Lou, and all the kids who participated.