The Bow Valley Bird Bonanza!

1. The Bow Valley Bird Bonanza! Every student at Elizabeth Rummel School is challenged to identify at least five different bird species between May 26 and 3 June! Check out our website for other resources to help you learn about birds… And read on for a game to help you learn about these birds!

2. Here’s how this game works: The next pages list birds that you might see around where you live…

3. Name that bird!

4. Black-capped chickadee Mésange a tête noir

5. Was that easy?This next birds colour is in its name…

6. Blue Jay Geai Bleu

7. How about this one?

8. Rufous hummingbird Colibri roux

9. Hint: this bird ‘swallows’ lots of mosquitos…

10. Tree swallow Hirondelle bicolore

11. Perhaps this is a little harder. Have you ever had one of these wake you up in the morning?

12. Black-billed magpie Pie bavarde Come to the school library to see some huge pictures of these birds!

13. Next, lets take a look at some birds you might see in the schoolyard - if you remember to keep your eyes to the sky!This first bird is so hardy, it can live here all winter long..

14. That thick bill! Those rough neck feathers! It must be a…

15. Common raven Grand corbeau … the next bird isn’t exactly a ‘Sea’ gull. Check out its bill!

17. Ring-billed gull Goéland à bec cercléNext bird is smaller than a raven, and just says ‘Caw…’

19. Crow Corneille d’Amérique

20. Imagine you were walking down by the Bow River. What do you think you would see first?

22. The name of this bird includes the colour of its eye. Can you tell which one is the female (hint: females have to hide from predators when they sit on nests).

23. Common goldeneye duckGarrot à oeil d’orthe female duck is more camoflaged, isn’t it?

24. This next bird lives here all winter long, and dips its body up and down to help see how far away things are!

26. American dipper Cincle d’AmériqueYou can sometimes see this next bird in Canmore’s hockey rink…

27. Bald Eagle (aka ‘Eddie’) Pygargue à tête blanche

28. This next bird is a GOOSE. And it lives in CANADA.(Hope you don’t need another hint…)

30. Canada goose Bernache du Canada(their babies look a bit like tennis balls, don’t you think?)Next bird is harder…

32. Spotted sandpiper Chevalier branlequeuNext bird is a cool hawk that likes to eat fish, and builds big nests…

34. Osprey BalbuzardPolicemans Creek is a good place to go bird-watching. To get there you have to walk right past the ‘Drake’ Inn… (hint, hint!)

36. Mallard duck Canard colvertThe drake is the male duck - it is more brightly coloured…This next bird flits about tree branches and eats the insects it finds there. Its song is a ‘warble…’

38. Yellow-rumped warbler Paruline à croupion jauneNext up: a bird that lays its eggs in other birds nests. The baby birds are raised by someone else!

40. Brown-headed cowbird Vacher à tête brunImagine, now, that you are walking in the forest…hey, what is that tapping sound?

41. Hairy woodpecker Pic chevelu

42. If you put sunflower seeds in your birdfeeder (just during the winter, please!), you’ll see lots of this next bird…

44. Red-breasted nuthatch Sittelle à poitrine rousseNext: a sparrow that might sing in your backyard. The song sounds something like ‘Camptown racetrack five miles long…’

46. White-crowned sparrow Bruant à couronne blanche(by the way, sparrows can crack open seeds. Go back and check out this bird’s strong bill!)

47. Here’s a neat bird that you can see on the Rundle Forbay or on any large lake. Its call makes it sound like a lunatic!

49. Common Loon Huart â collierWhen loon babies are young, they can get very tired and cold. That is why they sometimes get a piggyback from the Mum or Dad!

50. This next bird can fly silently, and see its prey on even the darkest night. It is one of nature’s best hunters…