Learning About Birds PDF

# LEARNING ABOUT BIRDS ## Lesson 1 ### Looking Ahead - Do you have a bird feeder at your house? What birds have you seen there? Have you ever seen a big blue jay scare the other birds off? - Have you ever seen vultures flying in slow, lazy circles high in the air? Have you heard a dove's soft coo...

# LEARNING ABOUT BIRDS ## Lesson 1 ### Looking Ahead - Do you have a bird feeder at your house? What birds have you seen there? Have you ever seen a big blue jay scare the other birds off? - Have you ever seen vultures flying in slow, lazy circles high in the air? Have you heard a dove's soft cooing or a crow's croaking caw? - Then you already know some things about birds! You should have fun learning more. Write the name of a bird you have seen and would like to know more about. 01. A pitulice. Do you remember on which day of Creation God created the animals? Do you know which day He created Adam and Eve? Let's quickly review the days of Creation. - On the first day of Creation, God made light. - On the second day, He made the sky. - On the third day, He made the dry land and the seas. He created grass, trees, and other plants. - On the fourth day, He created the sun, moon, and stars. - On the fifth day, God created fish and birds. - And on the sixth day, He made the rest of the animals. - Then He created Adam and Eve. ## Answer these questions. 2. On which day did God create the birds? - 5 day 3. What did God think of His creation? (If you do not remember, read Genesis 1:31.) - It was good The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He hath made every thing beautiful." Birds are some of the most beautiful animals God created. - Some birds have lovely, brightly-colored feathers. - Others sing beautiful songs. Many people like to watch birds. - They like to see their beautiful colors and hear their songs. - They watch birds to find out what they eat and where they live. - People who watch birds are called bird-watchers. ## Lesson 2 ### How Birds Travel - hover (həvər). To stay in one place in the air. - identify (ī děn• təfī). To look at something and decide what it is. Ken tried to identify the strange bird. ### Travel in the Air - Most birds can fly. - Their wings help them fly. - God made their wings curved on top and flat on the bottom. - When a bird flaps its wings, the air moves around them and lets the bird fly. - Birds fly in different ways. Knowing how a bird flies can help you identify it. - Small birds flap their wings often as they fly. - Goldfinches dip up and down in the air as they fly. - Mourning doves fly in a straight line. - Vultures and hawks do not flap their wings much. - They soar high in the air, letting the wind carry them. - Hummingbirds can hover in the same place in the air. They can also fly backward! ### Travel on Land - Most birds can travel on land. - Some birds that cannot fly are good runners. - Ostriches, the biggest birds, are the fastest runners of all birds. - They cannot fly, but God gave them strong legs for running. - Most birds that fly can walk or hop on land. - Some birds climb trees. - Woodpeckers climb in little jerks and hops up a tree. - Another bird that climbs is the nuthatch. - Nuthatches climb down a tree headfirst! ### Travel in the Water - Probably you already know some birds that live in the water. - Ducks and geese spend most of their time in the water. - Penguins are also water birds. - They are good swimmers and dive deep, looking for food. - Dippers get their food from the water too. - They live near rushing streams. - To get food, they dive into the water and walk along the bottom of the stream./ - Canada geese spend a lot of time in the water. ### Birds That Migrate - Do you remember learning about migration in LightUnit 202? - You learned that animals may migrate to another habitat to find food or to raise their young. - Many birds migrate every year. - In the winter, they may not be able to find enough food. - So when winter comes, they fly south to a place where they will have plenty of food. - Some birds do not migrate very far. - Others fly thousands of miles to reach their summer homes. ### Write the letter of the correct answer. 1. Birds travel in the air, in __a__, and on land. - a. water - b. space 2. Woodpeckers and __b__ are birds that climb. - a. dippers - b. nuthatches 3. Identify means "to look at something and __b__." - a. kill it - b. decide what it is 4. The way a bird __a__ can help you identify it. - a. flies - b. sleeps 5. Hover means "to __a__." - a. stay at one place in the air - b. fly very fast ### Write true or false. 6. __true__ Migrate means “to move to another habitat for a time." 7. __false__ Not many birds migrate. 8. __true__ Birds may migrate to find food. 9. __false__ Ostriches are the smallest of all birds. 10. __true__ Vultures and hawks do not flap their wings often. ## Lesson 3 ### Feathers, Feet, and Bills ### WE REMEMBER **Match.** 1. __e__ vultures and hawks 2. __d__ goldfinches 3. __b__ identify 4. __b__ migrate 5. __c__ dippers and penguins - a. dip up and down as they fly - b. to move to another habitat - c. birds that can travel in water - d. to decide what something is - e. do not flap their wings much - molt (mōlt). To lose feathers that will be replaced by new ones. - Most birds molt once or twice a year. **Say this word to someone.** ### Feathers - Feathers are probably the first things you notice when you look at a bird. - They cover most of the bird, and may be many different colors. - Can you guess how many feathers a bird has? - Some birds may have about 1,000 feathers. - Others may have as many as 25,000 feathers. - Once or twice a year, birds molt. - That means that they lose their feathers and grow new ones. - But they do not lose all of their feathers at once. - If that happened, the birds couldn't fly. - They usually lose only a few feathers at a time. - Some male birds have brighter colors than the females. - Have you ever seen cardinals? - The male cardinals have bright red feathers. - But the females have brown feathers with only a little red. - Can you think of other birds like that? ### Feet - You already know that birds have feet. - But did you know that different birds have different kinds of feet? - God gave each bird the kind of foot that it needs. - **Grasping Feet.** Owls, hawks, and other birds that eat small animals have grasping feet. - They have long, curved claws. - The claws help them grab their food. - **Swimming Feet.** Ducks, geese, and other birds that swim have webbed feet. - Between their toes is a web of skin. - Their webbed feet help these birds swim fast and well. - **Perching Feet.** Robins, cardinals, sparrows, and other birds that fly and live in trees have perching feet. - Their feet help them perch on a branch. - They have a long back toe that wraps around the branch and keeps them from falling. - **Climbing Feet.** Woodpeckers have two toes in the front of their feet, and two toes behind. - The toes have sharp claws. - The four toes and their sharp claws help the woodpecker hop up trees and drill holes without falling. ### Bills - Like feet, bills are special. - Each bird has the bill that is best for it. - **Hooked Bill.** Hawks, owls, and eagles eat small animals. - They have strong, hooked bills. - These bills help the birds tear off pieces of meat to eat. - **Chisel Bill.** Woodpeckers have strong, sharp bills. - Their bills help them drill holes in tree bark to find insects. - Woodpeckers also use their bills to drill holes for their nests. - **Cracking Bill.** Grosbeaks are birds that eat seeds. - They have strong, thick bills that crack seeds. - Cardinals, sparrows, and finches have strong seed-cracking bills too. - **Spear Bill.** Herons, terns, kingfishers, and some other birds eat fish. - They have long, sharp bills. - Their spearlike bills help them catch their food. ## Lesson 4 ### Birds' Eyes - Where are your eyes? - They are in the front of your head, right? - Try an experiment. - Roll your eyes so that one looks straight out over your left shoulder and the other looks straight out over your right shoulder. - Can you do it? - You couldn't do it because of the way God made your eyes. - But most birds can. - Their eyes are far back on their heads. - Each eye can see straight out on both sides. - They can see in front too. - Birds can see far around them without turning their heads. - Can you guess how that helps them? - God made owls' eyes different. - Their eyes are on the front of their heads, like yours. - They cannot see on both sides at once. - They must turn their heads to see around. - Woodcocks are even more interesting. - God put their eyes so far back on their heads that they can see all the way around them—in front, on each side, and behind. ### Birds' Ears - Have you ever seen a bird's ears? - Do birds have ears? - Birds and people have three parts to their ears. - Two of the parts of your ear are inside your head. - The third part is the part you can see—the thing you call an ear that is on the side of your head. - All three parts of a bird's ear are inside its head. - Instead of an ear like yours, a bird has a hole on the side of its head. - You cannot see the hole because it is usually covered with feathers. - Most birds can hear just as well as you can. - A few may even hear better than you.