Our feathered friends: can teach children a lot about connecting with our natural environment and learning about life

NT Features

Children are fascinated by birds. Young ones love to spend time outside looking at birds in the garden, collecting their feathers and looking for their nests. Which child hasn’t spread out birdseed and put little bowls of water to encourage birds to visit?

Bird-themed activities
Apart from being keenly interested in their activities, children can use bird feathers and twigs from abandoned nests to do craft. Or the other way around – take recycled materials to build nests. The options are endless for children to do bird stuff.

Making bird feeders is very proactive. Take abandoned containers and decorate them with colours and shells. A child-friendly version is making some out of carefully shaved fruit coverings like oranges and watermelons.

Bird watching binoculars can be made by rolling up paper sheets. Or getting round cardboard boxes and joining them. Decorate them for fun.

Take children exploring in a park to look for bird nests. Just take pictures and look. Teach them not to respect the house of birds.

Bird identification is a good way to get children into bird-watching. It’s also a way of connecting them with nature. They will learn to look out for birds and get excited when they spot a new species. They can even make a bird journal.

Learning from birds
Hiawatha learnt the language of the birds, their names and all their secrets such as how they build their nests, where they hide themselves during winters, and so on. Maybe, that’s a lot. But you can still learn quite a bit from them.

What can we learn from birds? -- To be confident. Birds learn to trust themselves before they take off in the sky. So have faith in your abilities and know that you will find a warm current to soar in.

Parrots teach us to greet people with love with enthusiasm, and make the world your playground, and go out and explore your environment. Even the simplest thing can be an adventure if you use your imagination. If something bothers you, speak up.

Nesting pigeons also have something to teach us. Never leave your perch or home. Even if you get too close, the nestlings won’t move. Adult pigeons show us what teamwork is. Plus they always stay calm and carry on with their task. Look at a pigeon they keep trying – teaching us that if at first you don’t succeed, try again.

WHAT IS YOUR BIRD TELLING?
If you decide to go ahead and get a bird home, learn to decipher its moods

Contentment
Singing, talking or whistling are clear signs that your bird is in a happy mood and is healthy and content. Some birds may show o and do this more when near people. Soft chatter is another sign of contentment, or can just be your bird attempting and learning to talk.

Affection
If your parakeet or parrot wiggles its beak in your presence, it is a sign of a ection. When a bird squeaks its beak (moves it side to side and vice versa, like humans grinding their teeth), it’s another sign that it likes you.

Trust
Give your bird time to acclimate to your home. Your bird will probably need about two weeks to adjust to his new environment before you can begin taming him. Some birds will take longer, and some will need less time to acclimate.

Bonding
Other than trust, budgies blink at you to show affection. This habit can mean contentment, so it’s no surprise that it also means fondness. A blinking budgie is showing that it likes your company, feels comfortable around you, and is happy with you.