Inspiring Young Birders through Project Feederwatch
Written by Anon - August 2018
Summers are short in Minnesota and once the winter grabs hold there are few opportunities for Minneapolis elementary school students to explore the outdoors. That didn't stop Amy Simso Dean from ensuring the students at Burroughs Community School had the opportunity to experience the joys of nature year-round.
For the past three years, she has worked tirelessly to bring the wonders of the outdoors indoors through Project FeederWatch, a 30-year-and-counting citizen science study operated by the Comell Lab of Ornithology and Bind Studies Canada, equipping everyday birders (and soon-to-be birders] with the tools and knowledge needed to monitor visitation to feeding stations across North America.
Amy installed a gourmet feeding station-thistle, suet, and sunflower-in the nearby tree grove, and wrangled a class-room-size set of binoculars and scopes for better viewing. She also created pocket-sized, laminated field guides with information on the most common birds of the area.
"I usually start our observation time by prefocusing all the binoculars, although they rarely stay that way, and taping diopters in place, because little hands can't resist twisting," says Amy "I also hang different-colored feeders so I can announce, 'There's a Goldfinch on the yellow feeder.” The development of the students' interests in birds has grown beyond the rigid scientific structure of Project FeederWatch.
Although Amy and her students follow a strict survey protocol for tallying birds at feeders, they can't help but count everything they encounter-even the flybys that couldn’t care less about the seed.
Amy has fallen into the routine of maintaining additional lists of all birds seen during observation time, not just those that visit their feeders, which the kids enjoy comparing to species reported in previous years. This gives way to discussions about differences in abundance between years, and the kids hypothesize reasons for these observed differences.
Amy's years of hard work, problem solving, and patient guidance have truly paid off. Now, when Amy walks through the classroom doors, she is met with cheers of excitement from dozens of budding birders eager to lay their eyes on their feathered friends.
I am simultaneous relieved and regretful when our FeederWatch season ends. It takes a lot of time for me as a volunteer, but the payoff more than makes up for it. I get to introduce 300+ kids to the wonders of birds every year," Amy says.
To learn more about Project FeederWatch or to bring it to your school, household, or community, visit FeederWatch.org.
Originally Published in Birder’s Guide to Conservation and Community