Tommy Thompson Bird Research Station

I have hyped this place up, but it really is an amazing spot for Toronto Wildlife! They do offer many educational tours, which can all be found here.

Map of the hiking trails of the Leslie Street Spit. Source.

This area is made from recycled debris from construction and demolition sites. It represents a very unique perspective of  reclaimed urban land that has now become a wildlife refuge. Think of the possibilities for learning that you could have with your class!

Remember to check what has been recently spotted in your area using eBird!

A great website for the bird kids in your classroom!

I would recommend that any youth interested in birds, and nature as a whole, should check out the Young Birders website for interesting articles and information, including some summer opportunities. They are mostly written by youth!

Classroom Activity #3 - Optically Safe Cities

Classroom Activity #2 - Wing Loading

At the ROM we talked about the different types of wings that exist in birds. By calculating the bird's wing loading using the dimensions of the wing length vs. the wing width, you can determine if the wing is most appropriate for powered predatory flight, soaring and gliding, or long distance migrations.

Here is a Great-gray Owl's wing and a Cooper's Hawk. The owl's wing loading sacrifices power for silent flight, whereas the Cooper's Hawk wing is designed for expert manoeuvrability and speed. 

Students can look into their environment and find other examples. Here is an example of a picture of a Swallow-tailed Kite that I took:

This is an excellent example of wing designed for soaring!

There is a great resource for teachers about wing loading found here. On it teachers can find information about how to calculate wing loading, which would be a great lesson for math or science. There is also an online matching game which matches different types of wings with different types of airplanes - pretty neat!

Classroom Activity #1 - Bird Life Cycles

This information comes from the Environment for the Americas website, who is responsible for putting together World Migratory Bird Day held during the second weekend of each May. *These are all their materials!*

The idea is to connect students to the ephemeral visits that migratory birds have to North Americans ecosystems. This also helps to develop a more World-minded view of the birds life as this lesson illustrates that these species are dependent on ecosystems in Latin and South America, maybe even Antarctica or Oceania!

To accomplish this, each student starts with a blank template:

After a lesson about learning about the breeding and migratory cycles of birds, they can start to fill out what different species are doing during the different months.
An example that they provided is the American Redstart:

This is a great way to involve geography, artistic talent, temporal learning and conservation all into one lesson!

More of their classroom activities can be found here on their website. Remember to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day in your classrooms!

Ripple Effect of this Work

Stewards
This small program has the potential to open a lot of doors for youth who would like to work within the conservation sciences. Bird Studies Canada is one of the most important organizations for developing and implementing conservation strategies for Canada's avian biodiversity. Even this action has a ripple effect, as whole ecosystem protection helps those who are passionate about plant, reptile and amphibian, butterfly and ALL types of animal conservation.

For those who are interested, Bird Studies Canada's website can be reached here. They also host a fabulous workshop, the Doug Tarry Young Ornithologists' Workshop, where I would encourage bird crazy students to apply. More information can be found on this link.

Outdoor Education
One of the most encouraging experience I had from this project was how much enthusiasm there was from everyone, young and old, to go out and see these colourful birds that they had only just then learned about. 

I made many suggestions for where families could go to observe these birds, both near and far. I especially emphasized High Park and that they have extensive information about the birds of the park, which can be accessed here.
As well, for those who are more knowledgable about birds, they can target rare or hard to find birds using the Ontario Ornithological Organization's Rare Bird Alert website. It also highlights migration trends and good spots to see birds in high numbers.

The Leslie Street Spit is also an amazing place where people can go to view birds in abundance. It also is host to the Tommy Thompson Bird Research Station where I have banded. There is a large public outreach program involved which allows for up close and personal experiences with birds in the hand, and an opportunity to learn about the science behind banding and the type of information that is collected. The regularly post photos and updates about the diversity and numbers of birds banded each day during migration on their Facebook page found here.

Propel the Knowledge of Science Further
During the many hundreds of discussions I had each day, many of them focused on the science behind the words I was saying; how do you know its this bird, how do you know where it goes to overwinter, how do you know it is endangered, how can we conserve them? All these questions are answered through the work of dedicated scientists.

I recommended that very keen bird watchers should check out Cornell University's online ornithological data base named Ebird. It links observations from around the world into one very user friendly website.

Getting youth involved in any of the number of organizations I have listed is a great way to start on a journey that may lead to academically studying birds and their conservation.

Make Someone THAT Much More Empathetic to Nature
I'd like to share some of the photos I have that prove that a little bit of bird love goes a long way!

I had a fondness for birds from a very young age!

I've inspired my friends a lot! Including this jeweller's creations. 

Here I am showing the wonders of a Saw-whet Owl to the public!

I've worked for many different organizations, including this one in Texas where I would show the public different pest management techniques (Brown-headed Cowbirds).

I get my friends HOOKED on birds too! My friend Francois has travelled with me to many places in search of birds and mollusks (his primary interest).

Just one experience with a bird can be life changing! Had such a connection with this Wandering Albatross, as many people do in New Zealand. 

The Wandering Albatross and all seabirds are facing huge perils because of the fishing industry and oceanic pollution. Since there is this empathy that exists between Kiwis and seabirds, public outreach is ever present and and most of the citizens are advocates for conservation change! Amazing!

Another friend who shares immense bird love! The more you go out, the more you create a network of friends who also love nature as much as you do. These connections can create a powerful voice of people who are committed to conservation of ALL species!

Even if it is just a more compassionate heart for creatures in our backyard, like this Mourning Dove, we can create urban safe centres for wildlife.

While this was just a small public outreach event, I think it increases the general knowledge of everyone about threats to biodiversity and also exposure to all the different creatures that SHARE the land with us. While not everyone will be interested, the few who share the same level of passion for birds and avian conservation now know of a few more avenues where they can turn to for guidance.

My Reflection

When I initially proposed doing this project, I knew that it was right up my alley, so to say! I have in the last few years developed and fostered a deep understanding about birds, the threats they are facing and understanding what needs to be done to help their conservation. I am always looking for new and different ways to share my passion to people, and this opportunity gave me a great avenue to do so!

I have not worked with primary aged children for a while, since I was a Park Ranger at a Provincial Park, and so at first I was rather intimidated by what it was I was going to have to do. Literally thousands of people were at the Royal Ontario Museum during the March Madness event, and I would get the chance to talk to them all about what it is I find most interesting in life. 

Of course there were people that came by that had very little interest in what it was we were doing, but I have to say that the majority of visitors stopped and were genuinely fascinated with something we had displayed. Whether it was the “bird popsicles,” the wing comparisons or, most of all, the dissection, everyone seemed to learn something new and gain a greater appreciation about our avian friends from this experience.

While the days were long, your back ached from bending down to talk to your new primary aged friends, and you feel you have said as many words in one day as you would normally say in a year, but you ended your day with an intense feeling of accomplishment. It was exactly the experience I had wanted! I realize that this work requires a lot of energy and planning, but this is where most advocacy work takes place. We make stewards out of the children who learn about, and subsequently want to protect, the warblers and finches that grace the trees of their neighbourhood. This is the work I aim to do for the rest of my life!

Learning about the Environment....

I believe that this project mostly focusses on learning about the environment, seeing as we were confined by the walls of the Royal Ontario Museum. That being said, this was a very good introduction to birds. As the old saying goes "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush." Children, and parents alike, could appreciate the subtle differences and physiology of the different birds that we had presented. 
Most people have little to no knowledge about the avian diversity that abounds us. This gave a very well-rounded introduction to birds and their biology. Learners were exposed to the many diverse ways that scientists conduct field research, such as bird banding, using a scope to read bands and how to use field marks (feather patterns) to identify a bird using a field guide. Visitors also got to have an up-close experience when they interacted with the bird skins, as well during the dissection. I think the dissection was so well received because there is so much about birds that people do not know, but is extremely fascinating. Avian physiology is very different to that of a mammal's. The gut has stones for digestion instead of a jaw with teeth, the eye to brain ratio is extremely large, and their lung system is completely different and much more efficient. We also provided many links and email sign up opportunities for the learning to continue.

Learning for the Environment...

The reason why I am so passionate about avian conservation is because of how much trouble all bird species are. Take a look outside of your window. If you see any birds at all, they are more than like one of these three: Rock Pigeon, House Sparrow or a European Starling. All three are incredibly invasive pushing out our native species. Then, what area is left for our native species, is being degraded, fragmented or completely destroyed. The use of commercial insecticides are causing insect eating birds to plummet. Intensive agriculture means ground nesting species are having little to no breeding success. The more than three billion feral cats in North America are destroying nests, young and adults. Yet the biggest threat to birds is us; our windows. Every year, bird collisions with buildings kill over one billion birds and represent the single greatest threat to birds. Depressed yet? Ornithologists and conservationists have been ringing the alarms for years, but little has been done. This is where I come in (in my small parts, but let's hope the ripple effect turns it into a tsunami of positive conservation efforts)!

In this experience, learners got a guided experience where experts explained about all this factors that are affecting avian diversity and population sizes in North America. Not only did they learn about the perils, though, but they also learnt what is being done, and how they can help. It can be a very powerful experience for these young minds to think about how much change they could have! This helped to bring back a sense of positivity to the atmosphere, although still maintain that something must be done and urgently.