22063 mammals of il2 - illinois · or inside a tree cavity. some birds, like the great horned owl,...

Illinois Birds, Illinois Department of Natural Resources 18

SUGGESTED GRADE LEVELS: 3 - 4

NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS:3-LS4-3, 4-LS1-1

SKILLS/PROCESSES: observation, classification, prediction,interpretation

OBJECTIVE: Students will identify the various kinds of naturalmaterials used in making a nest and evaluate the amount ofeffort expended.

TEACHER’SGUIDE

UNIT 2 LESSON 1

House PlansBACKGROUND Birds spend varying amounts of time and energy con-structing their nest. Some spend days or weeks buildinga nest, while others simply scrape a small depression inthe soil or pile a few twigs together. Still others lay theireggs in the nests of other birds or take over abandonednests. It is most common for the female to work onbuilding the nest alone. However, sometimes the malealone or both the male and female are responsible forconstructing the nest.

Birds use a variety of materials to build their nest. Theenvironment in which the bird lives influences the typeof materials and location of the nest. Some prairie birdsuse grasses for nesting material and make their nest onthe ground (meadowlarks, bobolink, grasshopper spar-row). Some woodland birds make their nest of plantfibers, twigs and leaves, and locate them above theground in the branches of bushes and trees (northerncardinal, blue jay, orioles). Other woodland birds nest onthe ground (veery, ovenbird).

Some birds locate their nest inside a tree cavity(nuthatches, woodpeckers, eastern bluebird, easternscreech owl). Whip-poor-wills, nighthawks and killdeerlay their eggs directly on the ground. Urban birds maynest in chimneys, eaves, stop lights and business signs(chimney swift, house sparrow, European starling).Some wetland birds may construct nests on floatingmats of vegetation (American coot, pied-billed grebe,rails). Some birds, like the great horned owl, do notbuild their own nest but use an abandoned nest ofanother bird (Cooper's hawk, American crow) or mam-mal (squirrels). Brown-headed cowbirds also do notmake their own nests but parasitize other birds' nests.

Nesting materials may include mosses, lichens, plantseeds, hair, snake skins and feathers. Chimney swiftsuse their own saliva as binding material for nests. Somebirds use mud to hold nesting materials together (barnswallow, American robin). Birds also use a variety of

humanmade items for nests, such as yarn, plastic strips,string, paper and aluminum foil.

Eggs are laid over a period ofmany days. A nest of eggs iscalled a clutch. Egg colorationand patterning can be themeans of protecting eggs whilethe parent is away (Unit 1,Lesson 1). Most birds producemany eggs with each nestingcycle. Production of a surplus is necessary as manyeggs and young do not survive to adulthood.

The time from when the last egg is laid until the last eggis hatched is called the incubation period. The length oftime for incubation varies among species of birds from10 days to 12 weeks.

Hatching takes several hours and may even take days.Chicks use their egg tooth, a bony tip on the top oftheir bill, to break through the shell. This period of timeis called "pipping." They start pecking at the blunt endof the shell where the air sac is located. Chicks have aspecial "hatching" muscle to help them with this task,and they take many rest breaks.

wild turkey

woodpeckerhawk

eastern bluebird(inside humanmade box)

types of nests

19 Illinois Birds, Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Care and protection ofyoung birds is a time-con-suming process. Somechicks are born fullyfeathered and able to see(precocial). They followtheir parent and feedthemselves soon afterhatching. For example,chicks of the ring-neckedpheasant and northernbobwhite are precocial (independent). Other birds areborn with their eyes closed and without feathers. Thesebirds remain in the nest to be fed by a parent. Birdssuch as the American robin and blue jay are altricial(dependent). Some birds are able to move their young,using their legs, beak or talons, if danger arises.

Raising chicks is an endless, daily chore for the parents,with nonstop flights to gather food and clean the nest. Inorder to survive, some chicks must eat half their bodyweight in food each day and may eat thousands ofinsects before leaving the nest. Some birds are able toproduce several broods of young each year.

PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES:1. Build a Nest: Ask each student to collect three differ-ent kinds of materials from outdoors and bring toschool the next day, keeping materials in separatebags. Give them suggestions for the types of materi-als (grass clippings, leaves, sticks, string, pine nee-dles, dead weeds, dirt, fur from their dog or cat)they are looking for, but do not tell them how theywill be used.

Ask each student to make a bird nest. First, studentsshould determine the type of bird they represent andthe size of their eggs in relation to the size of thenest. In class have each student build a nest usingtheir materials. To build appreciation for the skill andcraftsmanship involved with nest construction, chal-lenge students to use only two fingers, simulating thebeak of a bird. Glue may be used to bond materials.Mud nests make a good outdoor group project.

EVALUATION 1. Have each student discuss the selection and useof the materials in the nest. How is the nest heldtogether? Where is the nest located in relationshipto the ground? Study and compare various typesof nests.

2. Discuss the advantage of having a nest on theground, by the water, in a cavity or in a tree. What isthe disadvantage of each? What are the advantagesand disadvantages of not building a nest?

EXTENSIONS n Hatch domestic eggs (duck or chicken) in an incuba-tor in your classroom. Work with a local farmer toobtain eggs and, as a class trip, return the hatchlingsto the farm.

n Explore how toxins affect eggs. Soak an egg invinegar for two days. The eggshell will dissolve.Compare this to toxins, such as DDT, that haveimpacted birds (Unit 3 Lesson 3).

n Locate and count but DO NOT COLLECT OR DIS-TURB the different kinds of bird nests found outside.Which bird lives in each type of nest? How is thenest made? How far off the ground is it? Try toleave the habitat undisturbed so predators cannotfollow your trail.

n Have each student paint a paper egg shape tocamouflage it for a particular type of setting (tree,gravel, field, sand, etc.) and then go to such areasto see if the camouflage works.

n Watch a bird build a nest. How many days does ittake? How far does it fly to gather material? Afterwatching the bird for a few hours, calculate thenumber of trips per day or per hour. Determine thetotal number of trips necessary to complete con-struction. Calculate the total distance flown.

VOCABULARYaltricialbroodcamouflagecavityclutchegg tooth

environmentincubationparasitizepippingprecocialtoxin

American goldfinch fledgling

depression nest

STUDENT’SGUIDEHouse Plans


Birds spend varying amounts of time and energy constructing their nest. Some spend days orweeks building a nest, while others simply scrape a small depression in the soil or pile a fewtwigs together.

Birds use a variety of materials to build their nest. The area the bird lives in determines the typeof nesting materials used and the location of the nest. Some prairie birds use grasses for nestingmaterial and make their nest on the ground. City birds may nest in chimneys, stop lights and

business signs. Some wetland birds may construct nests onfloating mats of vegetation.

Some woodland birds make their nest of plant fibers, twigsand leaves. Some locate their nest above the ground in the

branches of bushes and trees, while others nest on the groundor inside a tree cavity. Some birds, like the great horned owl,do not build their own nest but use the old nest of other ani-mals. Brown-headed cowbirds also do not make their own nest

but lay their eggs in other birds' nests.

Birds use a variety of natural materials in their nest such asmosses, mud, lichens, plant seeds, hair, snake skins and feathers.

They may also use humanmade items in nests, such as yarn, plasticstrips, string, paper and aluminum foil.

Eggs are laid over many days. A nestof eggs is called a clutch. The time from when the lastegg is laid until the last egg is hatched is called theincubation period. Hatching may take several hours oreven days.

Care and protection of young birds takes a lot of time.Some chicks are born fully feathered and able to see(precocial). Ring-necked pheasant chicks are able to fol-low their parent and feed themselves soon after hatching.Other birds are born with their eyes closed and withoutfeathers (altricial). American robins remain in the nest tobe fed by a parent.

Raising chicks is an endless, daily chore for the parents.Nonstop flights are made to gather food and clean thenest. To survive, some chicks must eat half their bodyweight in food each day. Some may eat thousands ofinsects before they leave the nest.

ACTIVITYPAGE

No Place LikeHome

Birds build nests to have a place to lay their eggs and raise young whileprotecting them from the weather, predators and other hazards. Matchthe birds to the right kind of nest. Think about the many dangers in abird’s daily life. Write a newspaper ad to describe how habitat damageaffects birds.



SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL: 4

NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS:4-LS1-2

SKILLS/PROCESSES: mapping, observation, communication,data collection

OBJECTIVE: Students will recognize some bird songs ofcommon Illinois species and the importance and differencesbetween songs and calls.

TEACHER’SGUIDE

UNIT 2 LESSON 2

Bird BanterBACKGROUND Communication is important to birds, especially in habi-tats where vegetation impedes vision, such as forests,grasslands and wetlands. Birds communicate by vocal-izations, such as songs and calls, other noises, like tap-ping and drumming, and behaviors such as courtshipflights and dances.

Songs are specific patterns of notes repeated with fewvariations. They are used to attract mates and mark theterritory necessary for production and rearing of young.Birds use the peaceful "war of words" to settle boundarydisputes, instead of the dangerous "war of weapons"people sometimes use.

Each species has its own specific song or songs. Somebirds have over a dozen calls and songs (northern cardi-nal). Some birds are able to mimic the songs of otherbirds (gray catbird, northern mockingbird), humans andour products (European starlings can imitate a caralarm). Just like humans, bird songs have regionaldialects. Some birds are born knowing how to sing.

Others must listen to calls of adult birds of their kind andpractice the calls before perfecting them.

When alerting others of danger, birds call. Calls are alsomade when feeding or migrating. Precocial (indepen-dent) young communicate with their parents through alocation call. When a covey of northern bobwhite is splitup, they locate each other and rejoin the group througha gathering call.

Birds do not have vocal cords. To produce sounds,vibrations are sent across the syrinx (voice box) of abird. The more muscles a bird has attached to thesyrinx, the more vocalizations it can make. For instance,northern mockingbirds have many muscles and can pro-duce a variety of sounds, while rock pigeons' singularpair of muscles results in only the single "coo" sound.

A variety of other types of communications are used bybirds. Hungry nestlings peck at their parents' beak oropen their mouth widely to beg for food. Male ruffedgrouse "drum" and greater prairie-chickens "boom" toattract a mate. Sandhill cranes and American wood-cocks have elaborate mating dances and flights. A male

blue jay song pattern

northern bobwhite


wild turkey will spread its tail and drop and "rattle" itswings to attract a mate.

Communication is very important to birds. Without com-munication, many birds would starve, lose their way duringmigration or be unable to defend a territory or find a mate.

PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES1. Learn to attract birds with sound. One of the easiestsounds you can make is to suck on the back of yourhand, which will attract chickadees.

2. Listen to the audio CD-ROMs in the Illinois BirdsResources Trunk from the Illinois Department ofNatural Resources or borrow or purchase audioCD-ROMs that contain bird songs and calls.

EVALUATION1. After listening to bird call tapes, take students out-doors and identify bird songs and calls. Have aclass bird sounds contest, seeing who can call like arobin or caw like a crow.

2. Test the students to see if they can recognize thecalls of species you’ve studied. For hearing-impaired students, describe the calls in words.

EXTENSIONS n Bring a duck/goose call from home and have chil-dren share examples of the sounds they can make.Sanitize the call, if shared.

n Visit a nature center where a naturalist can escortyou on a bird walk and point out birds and calls.Featured birds may include chickadees, northerncardinals, European starlings, meadowlarks, ducksand geese.

VOCABULARYboomingcallcoveydrumming

migrationprecocialsongsyrinx

wild turkey

meadowlark

STUDENT’SGUIDEBird Banter


Birds communicate by songs and calls orother noises, like tapping and drumming.Courtship flights and dances are other waysbirds communicate.

Songs are specific patterns of notes repeatedwith few variations. Songs are used to attractmates and mark the territory necessary to raiseyoung. Each species has its own specific songor songs. Some birds have over a dozen callsand songs (northern cardinal). Some birdsare able to mimic the songs of other birds(gray catbird, northern mockingbird), humansand car alarms (European starling). Somebirds are born knowing how to sing. Othersmust listen to calls of adult birds of their kindand practice the calls before perfecting them.

When alerting others of danger, birds call.Calls are also made when feeding ormigrating. Precocial (independent) youngcommunicate with their parents through alocation call. When a covey of northern bob-white is split up, they locate each other andrejoin the group through a gathering call.

Birds do not have vocal cords. To producesounds, vibrations are sent across the syrinx(voice box) of a bird. The more muscles a birdhas attached to the syrinx, the more sounds itcan make. For instance, northern mocking-birds have many muscles and can produce avariety of sounds, while rock pigeons’ singularpair of muscles results in only the single "coo"sound.

A variety of other types of communicationsare used by birds. Hungry nestlings peck attheir parents' beak or open their mouthwidely to beg for food. Male ruffed grouse"drum" and greater prairie-chickens "boom"to attract a mate. Sandhill cranes andAmerican woodcocks have elaborate matingdances and flights. A male wild turkey willspread its tail and drop and "rattle" its wingsto attract a mate.

Communication is very important to birds.Without communication, many birds wouldstarve, lose their way during migration or beunable to defend a territory or find a mate.

blue jay

blue jay song pattern

ACTIVITYPAGE

Bird BanterIf you were a bird and wanted to defend your territory or attract a mate,you might break out in song. Birds call out to alert others of danger.Read the following instructions to play this bird song game.



SUGGESTED GRADE LEVEL: 4

NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS:4-LS1-2

SKILLS/PROCESSES: grouping, communications, problem-solving, decision-making, role-playing, reasoning, observation,classification, inference

OBJECTIVE: Students will describe the function of birdcourtship and recognize that courtship and mating consumea great amount of time and energy.

TEACHER’SGUIDE

UNIT 2 LESSON 3

Hello, MateBACKGROUNDMost birds are passerines (perching or songbirds).These small birds migrate great distances each year.Passerines have a short life span and seek a new mateeach year; thus, song is very important in attracting amate. The beautiful songs and colorful feathers ofmales are used to establish and protect territory andattract and compete for females.

Many females are drab in color, usually to camouflagethem while on the nest. Some species, however, lacksexual dimorphism, meaning the males and femalesappear the same. Blue jays, American crows and chick-adees are three bird species which lack sexual dimor-phism.

In the courtship ritual, birds need to seek out their ownspecies. Males establish a territory and call females tolure them in to mate with them. Mating is a very tiringprocedure to birds in terms of energy expense.

Most pairs of birds remain together throughout the

breeding season. Greater prairie-chickens and ruffedgrouse meet, mate and separate. Ruby-throated hum-mingbirds remain together only a few days, while ducksremain together until incubation begins. A few birdspecies, such as Canada geese, mate for life.

Most birds (songbirds, ducks, ring-necked pheasant)mate a year after hatching. Geese, hawks, owls andswifts mate at two years of age, with some of the largebirds of prey mating for the first time at four or moreyears of age.

Many adults that produce several broods each yearreceive assistance in raising young from offspring ofearly-season nests (rails, barn swallow). Birds slow toreach maturity may help mated pairs raise young (easternbluebird, scarlet tanager).

PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIESMaterials Needed: large feathers (made of constructionpaper); noisemakers (party favors, whistles, kazoos);long pieces of several types of bright and dark fabric tobe used as bands of coloration; handkerchiefs; referencematerial about displaying behaviors of various birds;clothes pins and safety pins to attach fabric to clothing.

1. Read the "Sky Dance" from A Sand County Almanacby Aldo Leopold (Oxford University Press, New York,1949, 226 pp.) to the students. It describes the mat-ing ritual of the American woodcock.

2. Discuss the different rituals of several types of "real"birds with your group. Another example to researchwould be the spring courtship of the sandhill crane,which includes pointing the beak skyward, walkingin a circle, jumping, leaping, tossing grass, whoop-ing and trumpeting. The greater prairie-chicken andcommon snipe are other good examples of birdswith complex mating rituals that could be discussedin class.

camouflage


3. Divide the class into groups of two to four. Explainto the students that each group is a subspecies of abird known as "Burdis humanis," commonly knownas "bird people." "Bird people" are found in differentparts of the world in small, isolated colonies. Eachsubspecies has developed its own particularcourtship ritual and display behaviors.

Each group is to design a mating ritual that representstheir colony. Things for the group to consider are:

n Does the ritual involve a dance or series of move-ments?

n Does the ritual have one or several distinguishingtraits (color, call, bands of color on any part of thebird)?

n Does the ritual involve only the male? Only thefemale? Both?

n What time of day does the ritual take place?

Give students time to develop their group's ritual. Thenhave each group perform the ritual. Have them explainwhere the bird lives and the reasons for its particular rit-ual. Challenge older students to interpret the displays ofother groups in the class.

EVALUATION 1. Have students summarize in writing the functions ofbird courtship. Ask them to explain why the birdsexpend so much time and effort in courtship.

2. How does the male of one species recognize thefemale of the same species, and vice versa? (song,markings, behavior)

EXTENSIONS n In the spring have the class watch, listen to anddescribe the courtship rituals of a bird.

n Research traditional cultural dances such as theNative American dance patterned after grouse.

n Demonstrate solitary and colonial nesting using stu-dents to represent the nests. Discuss advantagesand disadvantages of each (food supply, warning).

VOCABULARYbroodcamouflagecompetitioncourtshipdimorphismenergy expense

incubationmating ritualpasserinespeciesterritory

red-eyed vireo

STUDENT’SGUIDEHello, Mate


Song is very important in the attraction of a mate forbirds that have a short life span and seek a new mateeach year. The beautiful songs and colorful feathers ofmales are used to establish and protect territory andattract females. Many females are drab in color, usuallyto camouflage them while on the nest.

During courtship, birds need to seek out their ownspecies. Males establish a territory and attract females.Mating is a very tiring procedure to the birds.

Most pairs of birds remain together throughout thebreeding season. However, greater prairie-chickensmeet, mate and separate. Ruby-throated hummingbirdsremain together only a few days. Ducks remain togetheruntil incubation begins. Canada geese mate for life.

Most birds mate when they are one year old. Somespecies wait two to four years to mate (geese, baldeagles). Some birds hatch several broods each year.These parents may get help raising young from early-season offspring.

northern shovelers

ACTIVITYPAGE

Hello, MateMake one copy of this page. Cut out the cards and distribute one to eachstudent. The students move around the class and compare clues untilthey think they’ve found their correct mate. Students share with the classwho they think their bird match is and explain why.Note to teacher: Consult this complete sheet for the answers. Matchingcards are printed in left/right pairs. If additional clues are needed, printhalf of the bird name on each card of the pair.


RED-

BELL

IED

WOO

DPEC

KER CHIM

NEY SWIFT

BALD

EAG

LE

“I live in trees and get insects outof trees with my sharp beak. Mytail is stiff and serves to prop meup as I move up and down the tree.”

“I love to eat insects and have avery hard bone on my foreheadthat keeps me from getting aheadache when I get my lunch.”

“I am a very small bird and makemy nest in a chimney of a house.”

“I have a very small house that Imake with my mate and if thereare no other places for our nest,we build it in part of people’s houses.”

“I am a very large bird and makean enormous nest in the top of a tree.”

“I am a symbol of the UnitedStates, and my nest in a treetopcan be 10 feet wide and 10 feet high!”

GREATBLUE HERON

“I have long legs and eat "shesand other wetland species.”

“Look at my lovely plumes hangingfrom my neck. I migrate in thespring and summer and live inwetlands.”

WOO

D DU

CK “I live in wetlands. I eat plants andhave short legs and webbed feet.”

“Check out my fabulous colorsand my handsome crest! I nest inhollow trees in wetlands.”

EUROPEANSTARLING

“I nest in hollow trees. I am one ofthe most successful species onearth, but many people don’t likeme because I’m noisy.”

“I’m a noisy, small bird with anattractive feather coat whichre#ects iridescent colors. I canimitate the beautiful songs ofdozens of birds.”

CEDA

R W

AXW

ING

“I get my name from the red waxytips on my wings. I am usually in a#ock with others of my species.”

“Large #ocks of us can be seenfeeding on the fruits of treeseach fall.”

OWL

“I have good night vision, so Ihunt for my food at night.”

“I can turn my head 3/4 of the wayaround so I can almost see behindme. I #y nightly on silent wings tocatch mice and other nocturnalspecies.”

YELL

OW-B

ELLI

EDSA

PSUC

KER “I am a winter resident in Illinois and

peck neat horizontal rows in the barkof trees. I eat the inner bark of thetree and return later to eat the sap.”

“I am a type of woodpecker. Myname describes both the color ofmy belly and my preferred food.”

WHITE-BREASTED

NUTHATCH

“Watch me move head"rst downthe tree. I "nd foods that otherbirds have missed.”

“I am a cavity-nesting bird andhave a different view of life thanother birds.”

BLAC

K-CA

PPED

CHIC

KADE

E “I eat several hundred insect eggseach day. Look for me hangingupside down.”

“I call out my name. I am one ofthe smallest birds in the woods,but I am noisy and fun to watchas I hang upside down.”

NORTHERNCARDINAL

“My mate and I both have a creston our head, but I am red. I live inIllinois year-round, and peoplethink I look pretty against the snow.”

“I am brown and have a crest onmy head. I use my heavy seed-eating bill to gather foodthroughout the year.”

RED-

WIN

GED

BLAC

KBIR

D

BROWN-HEADED

COWBIRD

“I don’t look anything like my mate.I am the male and am black withbright red shoulder patches. Lookfor me in wet areas.”

“I am drab compared to my matebut that helps me protect my nestand young. I often build my nest incattails.”

“People call me the buffalo birdbecause I followed herds of buffaloto eat the ticks off their backs.Many people don’t like the way I nest.”

“I am a nest parasite, whichmeans I look for nests of otherbirds and lay my eggs there so Idon’t have to care for my young.”

HOUS

ESP

ARRO

W

ROCK PIGEON

“We’ve only been in North Americafor about 150 years but havebecome one of the most commonbird species.”

“We’ve really made ourselves athome in this new land! Somepeople don’t like us because wetake nesting sites from somenative species.”

“My natural habitat was clif fs androcky ledges, but I do very wellliving on the ledges of citybuildings and bridges.”

“I have been domesticated by manfor thousands of years. I can #ymore than 80 miles an hour butstill like to live downtown.”

22063 mammals of il2 - illinois · or inside a tree cavity. some birds, like the great horned owl,...

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