Our birding crew went to the local Heartland Forest to look for birds, and it turns out
that finding birds in trees is very different than finding birds in a field.
So join us as we learn how to find birds in a forest.
On our way to the forest, we drove past Niagara Falls.
Be kind to everything that lives.
We have six tips to find birds in a forest.
I'm going to mix them with clips of birds we found.
We're here at Heartland Forest to talk about five ways to find birds in a forest.
Tip number one is that you can go out early. Birds don't like the heat of the day, so
you will see the most birds if you are out before the sun is up.
We saw a Song Sparrow singing.
A Killdeer.
And some chickens?
They are birds!
They count.
A Tree Swallow was preening on a nest box.
The forest is very challenging sometimes because there are leaves and branches in the way.
Sometimes you can only see glimpses of a bird.
Sometimes you can only hear them.
Another tip is to look at the edges of habitats.
Like at the boundary of a forest and a clearing.
Or the boundary of a forest and a body of water.
There is going to be more biodiversity, or more different species, at the edges of the
habitat where the two meet.
At the forest edges you can see birds exploring for nesting material and food.
We saw a European Starling preening.
And a funny Goldfinch trying to find a perch.
Another tip for finding birds in the forest is to look at every level of the forest.
You're going to look at the shrubs on the ground, at the bottom of trees, the side of
trees, up into the canopy, and then look all the way up into the sky above.
You can sometimes see birds in the gaps between trees.
A very strange bird appeared.
And a bird I have not seen before - the Eastern Kingbird!
Another good tip for birding in a forest is to bring a friend.
It's great to have two pairs of eyes looking out for birds, so you can both spot different
species.
And..
Plus in case anyone gets hurt, you've got a buddy there, just for safety.
Cool.
A small Downy Woodpecker was pecking at a tree.
And because it's spring, we saw some fledglings being taken care of by their parents.
One other tip to find birds in a forest is to walk as slowly as you can.
There are different species that are more skittish than others, and that way you will
be able to see a greater variety of birds.
We did not see many birds in the deep forest, but we we saw other animals!
One bonus tip that Amanda pointed out as we were searching is to keep an eye out for other
types of animals.
We have seen frogs and turtles on this journey.
We have seen bugs, snails, and seeing so many different animals here is a real joy.
Even though we did not see very many birds.
I hope these tips were useful for you, and inspire you to go enjoy the nature right where
you live.
Go for a walk in a park!
You will feel great, and you might find something new.
You can subscribe to spot more bird videos, or take a stroll through some other videos
on this channel.
Thanks for stopping by this week to learn what makes Life awesome!