"Name the Bird" Game

Kenn Kaufman is a birder and the author of many field guides and other books.  He wrote a book titled Kingbird Highway.  He commented that he played this game with his family at the supper table when growing up.  The game was called "Name the Bird Game".  

We play this game in school everyday before we dismiss to go home.  It is very simple and quite fun!  The rules are simple.  You take turns naming a bird, but you can't copy anyone else's bird.  We try to use the full name of the bird like "Canada Goose" rather than just "goose".  My students strive to learn new birds for the game, so that they can come up with a new idea to surprise their friends!  This game makes students more aware of the many different kinds of birds there are.  After all, there are about 10,000 different kinds of birds in the world!  

At first you may not be able to go far, but soon mom and dad starting looking up birds to surprise their child and then the child shares it at school.  Of course, the parents also begin to learn new birds from their young child.  How beautiful is that?   The learning gets passed back and forth.  This is also a great game for those long car rides!

The kids are soaking up all of this bird knowledge and their vocabulary is soaring!  Here are some examples from this week's "Name the Bird" game:

Painted Bunting
Indigo Bunting
Gray Catbird
Neotropic Cormorant
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Harpy Eagle
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Red-tailed Hawk
Great Gray Owl
Burrowing Owl
Blue Jay
American Robin
American Goldfinch
Mallard
Black-capped Chickadee