Explorers Team
Birds
Welcome to the Explorer's Bird Web Page! First and second graders in Ms. Garvey's and Ms. Richmond's class have researched local birds. Click on the bird name to read more information about its description, habitat, diet, young, behaviors and other interesting facts.
| Bald Eagle by Sid and Michael |
| Barn Owl by Chelsea and Dustin |
| Blue Jay by Andrew and Alyssa |
| Downy Woodpecker by Kiah and Joe |
| Northern Flicker by Rebecca and Miranda |
| Red-headed Woodpecker by Amanda and Erin |
| Red-tailed Hawk by Peter |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird by Aidan and Luke |
| Internet links we used to learn about birds |
by
Michael and Sid
Description
The
Bald Eagle has a white
head and tail. The body and wings
are dark brown. The top feathers
are white. The female is larger
than the male. The Bald Eagle has
big bright yellow eyes. And the
body length is 34-43 inches.
Habitat
The
Bald Eagle lives in North America and Alaska.
Food
The
Bald Eagle tears his or her food up with a sharp beak.
It eats mostly fish, but also ducks, rabbits, and squirrels.
Young
The
Bald Eagle lays about 2 eggs a year. The
eaglets are not like their parents when they are born.
They are a grayish color.
Behavior
The
female is larger than the male to protect the babies.
Interesting Facts
The
Bald Eagles were almost extinct but the government stopped it.
They made special places where people can’t go, to protect the eagles.
by Chelsea and Dustin
The
barn owl has a white underside and a heart-shaped face and facial disk.
It is brown, tan and black. The
weight is 8 to 16 ounces. It is 13
to 17 inches long, and the wingspan is 34 – 37 inches.
Habitat
It
lives in woodlands in America, Europe, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and
Australia.
Food
It
eats mice, voles, rats, small birds, frogs, and bats.
Young
The
strongest baby owls get more food, because there is not enough for the rest.
The eggs are white and red.
Behavior
The
barn owl can hunt at night. The
owl’s sound is “croooh, croooh”.
Interesting Facts
The
barn owl can live for up to 18 years. You
can’t see the barn owl’s ears. The
left ear is higher than the right.
by
Andrew and Alyssa
The blue jay is bigger than a robin. It is about 30 centimeters long. The blue jay is blue and white and black. It has a black stripe on its neck, and white on its chest.
The
blue jay lives in the eastern half of the United States and Canada.
It
almost always makes its nest in a tree.
The
blue jay eats small seeds and nuts and insects.
This
bird lays a clutch of 3 to 6 eggs at a time.
The eggs are green with spots.
The
female blue jay looks just like the male.
by
Joe and Kiah
The
Downy Woodpecker has white spots on its wing and the boy has a red spot on the
back of his head. It also has a white breast.
The body is 6 ¾ inches. The
beak is small.
This
woodpecker lives in the southeast of U.S. and parts of Canada.
It lives in the forests, woodlands and river groves.
It
eats insects, tree seeds, fruit and suet.
The
young are born blind and naked.
It
digs a hole in a dead tree to make its home.
It sounds like pik-ki-ki-ki.
It
has two toes in front and back. They
migrate south in winter.
by Rebecca and Miranda
The northern flicker is brown with black spots, and the male has a red spot on the back of its head.
Habitat
It
lives in gardens, forests, and the edges of farms.
It lives in the north of the U.S.A.
It nests in tree cavities.
Food
The
northern flicker eats insects, and seeds, and berries and worms.
Young
Its eggs are white. The flicker might lay as many as 71 eggs in 73 days, only wanting 4! The young males look like their dad.
Interesting Facts
The
northern flicker goes to the same nest each year.
by Erin and Amanda
The
redheaded woodpecker has a bright red head and one big white spot on each wing.
It is about 7 ½ inches long.
Habitat
The
redheaded woodpecker lives in the eastern and Midwestern U.S.A.
It lives in farmland, orchards, groves, and shade trees.
Food
Foods
it eats are ants, beetles, seeds, fruits, and acorns.
Young
The
eggs are 1 inch long and white.
Interesting Facts
The
redheaded woodpeckers use their bills to get to the insects on tree trunks.
The sound is a loud “quee-ah”.
These birds also drum with their bills on dead branches or anything hollow.
by Peter
Description
The red tailed hawk’s body is brown with white spots. The adult has the only red tail. It has a really sharp beak and long claws. Their feet start pale, and become yellow when they’re adults. It looks like it has underwear because it has white feathers above its legs. It grows from 18” to 25”. The female hawk can be 25% bigger than the male.
Habitat
It is found all over America.
Food
It will
eat small mammals, other birds, reptiles, insects, and fish.
If the food source is low, it will eat anything available.
Young
The
female lays two or three eggs each year. The
incubation time is 30 days. After
four to five weeks, the babies can fly.
Behavior
Its
call is a high-pitched “kreeeeeeee”, and it hisses.
Interesting Facts
It
has amazing eyesight (two to three times better than us).
It stays away from humans, and will dart if it is necessary.
Its nose is on its beak. Many
hawks get their names from how they look. For
example, red tailed, sharp shinned, and red shouldered.
It has brown eyes in its second year of life.
It can eat over 1,000 mice a year. It
lives about ten years.
by
Luke and Aidan
The
male has a red neck, and it has a green back.
It has a very long bill and tail.
It is very small. This is
how long it is: 3 inches long. It has a white breast and black wings.
Habitat
It
mostly lives in the eastern U.S. It
can live in woodlands, field edges, parks, gardens, and near water.
The hummingbird often lives in mountain areas with flowers.
Food
It
eats nectar from flowers and insects and spiders.
Young
The
egg size is about the size of a walnut, and it is white.
Hummingbirds lay two eggs at a time, and the nest is very tiny.
The nest can be made out of spider webs, grass, and moss. The nest is shaped like a cup.
Their nests can be on a branch, or a rock, or maybe even a large leaf.
Behavior
Hummingbirds
can fly backwards. Their wings beat
70 times a second, and 4,200 times a minute.
Interesting Facts
The
smallest hummingbird lives in Cuba. The
female and the young are white-throated.
Birds of New England ... a ThinkQuest Junior site about birds.
BirdSource ... sponsored by the Audubon Society and maintained by Cornell University Lab of Ornithology. Includes ongoing bird counts.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology ... more bird facts from Cornell University.
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maintained by Greg Thweatt
gthweatt@scsvt.org
Last updated: July 18, 2003