Backyard Birds
Are you ready to get outside or even just observe through your windows?
You don’t have to be an expert bird watcher to enjoy the songs and calls of birds. Birds are truly unique and adapt to live in environments all over the world. Just in North America there are 2,509 species of birds!
Let’s Get Creative!
Make a Bird Feeder
Birds come in all shapes and sizes and so do their beaks. Birds use their beaks as tools for breaking open seeds. With this video we are going to make a pinecone bird feeder for birds that have thick beaks to break open sunflower seeds.
Listed below are the supplies you will need to get started:
- Pine cone
- String or yarn
- Peanut butter or lard
- Sunflower seeds or other bird seeds
Download the instructions and Birding Guide here!
Get Outside!
Neighborhood Naturalist Nature Challenges:
Here are some fun ways to get out and observe birds in your neighborhood!
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Pick a spot to sit outside, and see how many birds you can see and hear in 15 minutes.
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Take photos of birds you see and post them to iNaturalist or Seek by iNaturalist.
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Visit a new birding spot in Utah:
- Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
- Ouray National Wildlife Refuge
- Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge
- Check out the Utah Audubon Society’s recommended Birding HotSpots
Connect with Local Experts
Salt Lake Avian Collision Project
Did you know that 1 billion birds a year die in building collisions? Tracy Aviary and the International Dark-Sky Association started a project studying the impact of light pollution on birds in the Salt Lake Valley. Small groups of Citizen Scientists patrol downtown Salt Lake City to look for birds who have collided with buildings. Data collected will help address light pollution impacts on urban environments to help save migrating birds.
Explore More
- Birding Basics with the Tracy Aviary.
- Learning bird songs is a great way to identify birds, especially those that are far away or hidden from view. In fact, when biologists count birds in the field, the majority of species are heard rather than seen. Cornell Bird calls and ID
- Celebrate Urban Birds with The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.