Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2019

My Favorite Christmas Traditions

The Christmas season is important in our household. Having 3 young children, and lots of family in the area, typically means lots of events and lots of fun. One of my favorite things about the holidays, is getting to share traditions from my childhood with my kids. It's so much fun getting to relive some of that childhood magic. I also love finding new traditions to try out and incorporate into our holiday season. Here are a few of my family's favorite traditions: Decorating the Tree Growing up my family always set up and decorated our tree the day after Thanksgiving. It was, and still is, one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. I love waking up before the kids and sitting in the quiet, with a cup of coffee by the tree. There's something almost therapeutic about sitting next to a lit Christmas tree on a quiet morning or evening. Most years we use a fake tree, so we stick to family tradition and set it up and decorate on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It

Learning About Birds: Exploring the Relationship Between Beak Type and Diet

All birds have beaks. They are used for finding and accessing food, self defense, and building nests. Beaks are actually an extension of a bird's skull and are covered in a protein sheath called keratin, the same protein that gives our fingernails strength.  Birds eat a wide variety of foods. Some birds eat fruit and nuts, and some eat seeds. There are birds that eat insects, and birds that eat small mammals and reptiles. Many sea birds and water fowl eat fish. There are even birds that eat flower nectar. Tearing apart fruit requires a very different beak than extracting nectar from a flower does, so many birds have developed highly specialized beaks, specific to their diet.  Common types of beaks: Meat Eater-  Birds of prey, like eagles and hawks, have sharp powerful hooked beaks for tearing meat. Fruit and Nut Eater - Birds that eat a lot of fruit and nuts, like macaws, have strong beaks with a sharp hook at the tip for tearing fruit and cracking shells.