A Bluebird Quest

Introduction

Task

Your job is to find out:

1. Why bluebirds are in trouble
2. What bluebirds need to survive
3. How bluebirds raise their babies
4. How you can help the bluebird

Resources

• Our Favorite Backyard Birds
• Getting Started with Bluebirds
• Bird Facts

Process

You will work with your team taking turns with the mouse.

1. Use Our Favorite Backyard Birds to answer the following questions. Write the answers in your bluebird journals.

a. What kind of land do bluebirds like to live on?

b. Where do they nest?

c. What do they use to make their nests?

 

• Draw a picture of the kind of land a bluebird might like to live on.
2. Use Getting Started with Bluebirds to answer the following questions in your journal.

a. Where did bluebirds used to nest?

b. What happened to their old nesting places?

c. What two birds are the bluebirds' worst enemies?

d. Which one can enter any hole a bluebird can?

e. What do bluebirds eat in the summer?

f. What do bluebirds eat in the winter?

 

• Click here to see two bluebird enemies.
• Draw a picture of one of the bluebirds' enemies.

 

• Draw a picture of something a bluebird might eat.

 

3. Use Bird Facts to answer the following questions in your journal.
 

a. How many eggs does the female bluebird lay?

b. What color are they?

c. How long does she sit on the eggs?

d. Who brings the food to the babies?

e. How old are the babies when they leave the nest?

 

• Draw a picture of a bluebird nest and eggs.
• Draw a picture of a father coming to feed his babies.

4. Click on Getting Started with Bluebirds to answer the following questions.

Write the answers in your journal.

 

• a. What does a bluebird house look like? Draw one in your journal.

• b. Should you place your nest box on land that is wooded or open?

 

• c. How high off the ground should the box be?

 

• d. How far apart should the boxes be?

 

• e. What should you avoid when setting up your bluebird trail?

(List three things)

 

• f. What should be removed from the nest box immediately?

 

• g. Why shouldn't you open the box after the birds are 12 to 14 days old?

 

Evaluation

• Did you answer all the questions?

 

• Did you work cooperatively with your team?
• Did you check your work for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization?

 

Conclusion

You have completed your Bluebird Quest!! Now you should understand why bluebirds are in trouble, what they need to survive, how they raise their babies and how you can help the bluebird.

 
A Bluebird Quest, Written by:
Nancy Bocian, Christi Guptill, and Barbara Grollimund from Matthew Paterson Elementary School Click here to e-mail them. Pages Created: June 24, 1998 Last Updated: April 14, 1999 Questions and/or Problems regarding this page please contact: Melani Bendfeldt Lower Hudson Regional Information Center Southern Westchester BOCES 32 Warren Avenue Tarrytown, NY 10591