Birds in the Schoolyard Project |
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On the 10th of February 2005 John Murphy came to our school. He was from Birdwatch Ireland. John had a laptop, a projector, a screen and a laser light. At first he showed us birds that would come to the bird feeder in our school.
John showed us how to train a robin. First you get a brush, then you get a glove and tie it to the brush handle. Next put bird seed on the glove everyday hold the handle shorter. He then told us about the wren the King of the birds. After that he showed us a picture of a blue tit and told us why it is the brainiest bird and he told us of how two tests proved it. One was when there was a peanut on a match stick and the bird had to pull out the match stick to get the peanut to the bottom of the bottle. In the other test the bird had to pull the string and get the peanut to the top of the bottle but he also had to hold the string with its claw.
James O'Grady knew that the Goldcrest is the smallest bird in Ireland. John told us that the whooper swan who has a yellow beak is in our area. The Puffins, found on the Skelligs shed the skin on its beak in the Winter and it is brown. In Summer it grows back its colour on its beak. He explained to us how the female birds have a dull colour so that they can blend into the bushes and the male birds are bright colours. Then he warned us is we feed birds after the 17th March they will become dependant on food we give them and they wont learn to find food for themselves. In the end of the day John did a question quiz with all of us and Ronan Taaffe won a small bird book.
