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Learning About Birds: Flight and Migration

Flight gives birds the ability to travel vast distances and without it migration would not be possible. Below are activity ideas and resources for teaching your kids about bird flight and migration.

For activities and resources about other bird related topics, check out: Learning About Birds or grab a printable bird unit study here: All About Birds- Printable Unit Study




Learn About Flight

Birds are built for flight. Their lightweight structure, hollow bones, feathers, shape, and strength, all contribute to a bird's ability to take to the air. Here are a couple fun activities to try that demonstrate how birds fly:

Thrust and Lift Balloon Birds:
Just like airplanes, birds require two things to achieve flight: thrust and lift. Thrust is the force that propels a bird foward, and lift is the force that holds a bird in the air. Lift happens because of the difference in pressure over and underneath a wing. This activity is a simple and fun way to demonstrate how both lift and thrust contribute to a bird's ability to fly.

For this activity you will need:
-a balloon 
-a clothespin 
-a couple artificial feathers
-some scotch tape
-a permanent marker

First blow up your balloon, but instead of tying it closed, just pin it with the clothespin. Then draw a bird face on your balloon if you want.




Tape an artificial feather or two on each side of the balloon. Then take off the clothes pin and let go of the balloon. It should sort of "fly".



The air being pushed out of the balloon creates thrust, and air pressure under the wings creates lift.

Experiment with the placement and number of feathers. What position works best? How many feathers create enough lift without being too heavy?

Build a kite project:
An alternative activity for exploring lift and thrust is designing, building, and testing kites. For this activity you will need: 
-a cheap plastic Dollar Store tablecloth
-tape
-wooden dowels
-scissors
-string

Start by building a kite frame with your wooden dowels and tape them together. We taped ours in a cross shape, but that's not the only design that works. Feel free to let your kids experiment with different ideas.

Using your frame as a guideline, trace and cut out your kite from the plastic table cloth and tape it over your frame.

Add some string to the end, and your kite is ready to test. Take it outside on a windy day and see if you can get it to fly.

Discuss how both running and the wind create the thrust needed for flight and that the air pressure under the kite creates lift, keeping the kite airborne.

Additional Resources About Bird Flight:
-Experiment! How Does an Owl Fly so Silently? This video is pretty awesome, I definitely recommend checking it out!
-Kite Crafts For Kids from A Crafty Life has lots of different types of kites you can try making.


Learn About Migration:

Every fall thousands of species of birds, take to the air on a journey from their summer breeding grounds to their winter grounds, and then in the spring they travel all the way back. Some birds travel amazing distances. Arctic terns sometimes travel as many as 49,000 miles in a year, from the far north all the way to the tip of South America and then back again. Birds migrate mainly for access to resources like food and  good nesting grounds. As the availability of insects and other foods decreases in the fall, birds migrate south to warmer climates with more food. 

Check out these awesome videos about bird migration:
-Bird Migration in the Americas
-Migrations: Big Animal Trips from SciShow Kids
-Bird Migration from Naturalist Outreach 
-Through the Lense: Snow Goose Migration from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology 
-Bird Migration: A Perilous Journey from TedEd

Go Bird Watching
Get yourself a good bird guide and start bird watching with your kids. You can make a special day out of it and take a trip to bird watch at the park, beach, or a local wildlife preserve, or you can bird watch from your own backyard. My kids love to bird watch from our apartment balcony. Try identifying birds you see and take note of what time of year you see them.

Grab a free printable list of bird species common in the central United States here: Bird Species Checklist.




Make A Bird Feeder
It's important for birds to have access to food and fresh water, especially during migration. Try making your own bird feeder to help feed the birds on their long journey. 

One of my favorite simple bird feeders to make with kids is pinecone bird feeders. To make one, you will need:
-a pinecone 
-a butter knife
-peanut butter
-bird seed
-string
-scissors

Gather a couple pinecones from your yard or neighborhood and tie a loop with string onto the top of the pinecone, so it can be hung.

Apply a thin layer of peanut butter to the pinecone with the butter knife and then roll the pinecone in some wild bird seed. 



Hang your bird feeder from a tree branch, or we hung ours from the railings of our apartment balcony.



Many birds love fruit, try hanging some dried orange slices out with your pinecone bird feeders. Just slice an orange into thin slices and bake on a cookie sheet at about 175 degrees for several hours, flipping occasionally. Then string it and hang it outside.

There are lots of other ways to make bird feeders too, check these links for ideas:
-Easy Homemade Bird Feeders For Kids To Make from The Spruce Crafts
-DIY How to Make a Bird Feeder video from What's Up Mom

Bird Migration Map
Choose a species of migratory birds to study. Do a little research about where they nest in the summers and where they nest in the winters and the routes they take. Then trace their migration route(s) on a map and calculate the distance they travel each way and round trip. 

We chose the snow goose because their winter nesting grounds are right here where we live. They spend their summers way up in northern Canada, Alaska, and Siberia and every fall they make the 3,000 mile trip to their winter nesting grounds in the Sacramento valley, and parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and northern Mexico. Then in late winter they begin the 3,000 mile trip back to the tundra.


If you enjoyed this post be sure to check out the other posts in my Learning About Birds series and grab a printable All About Birds unit study.

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