St. Kilian’s N.S.

Nature News

Birds

The Robin by Darren, Thomas and Luke

The robin is a plump and perky bird with long slender legs.  It has a pointed beak.  The robin has a white face and a red belly.  It has not a very long tail.

The Blackbird by Darren, Thomas and Luke

The blackbird has an orange beak and a large tail.  It has big eyes.  The male is glossy jet black all over, and the female has a brown coat. 

The blackbird is a woodland bird and a farmland bird.  The blackbirds find worms and grubs in the soil and eat fruits and berries in the autumn.  The nests are open cups, built in bushes.  The hen does most of the nest building and sits on the eggs, but both parents feed the young.

We have lots of blackbirds around our school.  We think a pair of blackbirds has built their nest in a bush outside our classroom window.

The Rook / The Crow by Eimear and Michael

Rooks are often called crows.  Rooks are mainly black and they have grey beaks.  They eat insects.  Rooks search for food in fields, parks and gardens.

Rooks nest in tall trees.  The female rook lays three to five eggs.  She sits on the eggs for sixteen to eighteen days.  Both parents feed the young.

Rooks stay around all year.  There is a rookery beside the church near our school.  In spring when the trees are bare we see the rooks flying around with twigs in their beaks repairing their nests.  We usually find about twenty nests there.

The Song Thrush by Sinead and Stephen

The song thrush is olive-brown with dark-brown spots.  It nests in bushes and hedgerows.  The nests are cup-shaped.  The female builds her nest from grass and moss.  Then she sits on the eggs.

The thrush eats worms, insect grubs and snails.  Thrushes hammer the snail’s shell with their beaks to open them.

The thrush is territorial.  It will chase other thrushes away from its own area.  The thrush sings nearly all year round.

The Wagtail by Karen and Sandra

Wagtails live on small insects.  They live where the ground is open and insects are plentiful.  Many wagtails live in cities but the farmyard is the best place to find them.  They come together in hundreds to sleep in the trees.

The wagtail is black and has a white breast.  Their long tails and short wings help them to take off quickly.

The Swallow by Thomas, Darren and Luke

The swallow is a migrating bird.  It goes to South Africa in September and returns to Ireland in April.

Swallows are blue black with chestnut faces and black throats.  The under parts are white.  Swallows have curved wings and deeply forked tails.

The male has a longer tail than the female.  The tail has white spots.

Swallows perch on high overhead wires.  They return to the same nest year after year.  The swallow’s nest is usually on a beam or under gutters.  It is shaped like a half cup.  It is made of mud and straw cemented together.

Thomas has swallows high up on the walls of his house and in beside the roof under the gutters.  Darren has a swallow’s nest on the gable of his house and under the roof of the shed.

The Wren by Eimear and Michael

The wren is a fat little bird.  It is the size of your fist.  The wren is a brown bird with a stumpy tail.

Wrens nests are made of moss and grass and lined with feathers.  They are usually placed in holes.  The cock wren builds several nests his mate chooses one of these for the home.

You can find the wren everywhere.  The cock wren has a very loud song and the female has a very quiet song. Wrens are the second smallest Irish bird. 

We see wrens jumping in and out of the bushes outside our classroom.  We think they have a nest there.

The Bluetit by Sinead and Stephen

The bluetit is a small bird.  It is about 11 c.m. long.  The bluetit has a blue crown, wings and tail.  Its cheeks are white and the under parts are yellow.

The Bullfinch by Sandra and Karen

Bullfinches are often seen in gardens.  They live among hedges and shrubs.

They feed on plants, especially the buds of shrubs such as the hawthorn and the flowers of the willow and oak.