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Our bird watching started as a winter habit.

We were all cold and snowed in one winter morning, and we put birdseed in our bird feeder and crowded around the window to see what happened. And what happened was that while the entire world was holed up in their warm homes, the birds were out partying. They flew around, grabbing food from the feeder, and flying to the tree next to it to hide out the storm for a bit before getting more food. We were mesmerized.

Bird watching with kids is fun and educational! Here are 5 tips for getting started

Then when we started hiking, we’d just watch for birds and try to figure out what they were. We brought binoculars and colored pencils to draw what we saw. And pretty soon, we were bird watching (you know, casually…not like fanatics or anything) all year round.

Want to try bird watching with your own kids? Here are five tips to get started

1.) Get a birdfeeder

I got a squirrel-proof (and more importantly, mouse-proof. Ugh) birdfeeder for around $12. It hangs on the front porch, where we can see it from inside on those snowy days. It’s better than television.

2.) Get a birdbath

If the thought of one more (or twenty more) mouths to feed makes you cringe, set up a birdbath in the front yard. Birds are always looking for water that hasn’t iced over — if you keep yours filled, they’ll visit there as well. You don’t need a storebought birdbath, either — mine is a flower pot saucer on a stump.

3.) Go on a bird watching hike or walk

A few visitor centers around here keep track of the kinds of birds they see. Keep an eye out for those. And bring along a pair of binoculars (we like these) and a notebook to draw pictures or keep notes about what you find.

4.) Get an app

The Audobon Society has a birdwatching app that helps you identify birds, play their calls, look up what other birds have recently been seen in your area, and make your own wildlife lists and charts.

5.) Get a bird book

I like the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, probably because my mom always had a Roger Tory Peterson bird book around. It’s not specifically a kids’ book, but the kids will have fun trying to find the birds they spot in it.

You can also read children’s books featuring birds — fiction and non-fiction, they’re both fun ways to relate to our feathered friends!

–No Two Alike by Keith Baker

–Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

–Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

–Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater

–National Geographic Kids Bird Guide of North America by Jonathan Alderfer

Do you go bird watching? What do you do?

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