BirdSleuth Explorer’s Guidebook

BECOME AN EXPERT OBSERVER!

Follow this step-by-step guide and use your senses to discover the birds

in this national wildlife refuge.
Scientists and explorers make lots of observations and ask tons of questions. 

If you think of a question that you can’t answer, don’t worry. Just turn to page 11 of your 

BirdSleuth Explorer’s Guidebook and write it there. You can find the answer later.

Scientists are explorers.

They search for new discoveries and ideas. You can be a scientist, too. Science starts with 

curiosity and observation. Keep your ears and eyes open and record what you notice. 

Using these science skills is a great way to explore this national wildlife refuge.

Welcome, BirdSleuth Explorer!

Your Name _____________________________________

Refuge Name___________________________________

State __________________________________________

Date __________________________________________

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Find a quiet spot. Sit and listen for five minutes. Use this 

space to make a map of what you hear, like the girl in 

the picture. The X on the page marks the spot where 

you are. Use your own symbols to map the sounds 

around you (like cars, running water, and birds).

Wake Up Your Ears

 Use your sense of hearing to start exploring the world around you!

X

You are here

Where are the sounds?

3
A good habitat has everything a bird needs to survive. There are four parts to a habitat. 

Put a check next to each part you see: food, water, cover, and space.

What’s a Habitat?

Great job! Now that your ears are listening, look for the four parts of a habitat.

FOOD: Just like you, birds need a healthy 

diet. Different birds eat different foods, for 

example seeds, insects, and fruit.

WATER: From a puddle to a pond, or a 

ripple to a river, birds need clean water for 

drinking and bathing.

COVER: Birds need safe places to sleep 

and raise young, and shelter from bad 

weather and predators. Birds find cover 

in trees, bushes, and structures made by 

people.

SPACE: Birds need room to grow and live. 

They need to be able to find enough food, 

water, and cover in the place they 

call “home.”

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This national wildlife refuge might have more than one kind of habitat (such as forests, 

wetlands, grasslands, and deserts). Observe the habitat around you closely. 

How many things can you find on the list?

Habitat Scavenger Hunt

Now you’ve got the hang of it! How many parts of a habitat can you discover?

 insect

 spider

 spider web

 place where a bird can hide

 plant that is as tall as you

 mammal

 leaf bigger than your hand

 animal making noise

 something a bird can eat

 animal track

 hole in a tree

 rock bigger than a baseball

 bird nesting material

 water for animals

What was the most colorful thing you found? ______________________________________

What was your favorite thing you observed? ______________________________________

What would you name the habitat you are in? _____________________________________

5
Do not take anything that you find in a national wildlife refuge home with you. 

Leave everything where you find it so the next explorer can see it, too. 

Scientists take notes or photos to remember what they see.

You can find out if birds are here by using your eyes and ears. 

How many items can you check off the list below?

Bird Search

Now that you’ve explored this habitat, let’s see if you can find any birds.

Bird evidence

 feather

 droppings

 nest

Birds using habitat— 

look for them:

 on a branch

 on a wire or roof

 flying or soaring

 on the ground

 swimming

 eating

 drinking

Variety of birds

 group of three or more birds

 two birds together

 colorful bird

 bird that is mostly black

 bird with white on its body

 bird with a long tail

 bird with a short tail

Bird illustrations on this page by Evan Barbour, Bartels Science Illustration Intern

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There are many different types of birds. They can be grouped by their shape. 

Species in each group have similar shapes. Here are just a few bird groups 

you might see as you explore.

Bird Groups

You’re really becoming a great observer and explorer! 

Now that we know that birds are all around us, let’s start trying to identify them.

Crows Doves

Ducks Owls

Songbirds Swallows

Herons Gulls Hawks

Hummingbirds Woodpeckers

Geese

Can you find a bird from any of these groups? 

Record the group and where in the habitat you saw it.

Group Name

(such as owl)

Where You Saw It

(such as in a tree)

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Bird watchers use many clues to identify birds. Knowing the shape, size, and color pattern 

of a bird, and where and when you saw it, can help you identify the birds you see. 

Focus on one bird and gather information about it!

Identification Clues

Now that you can use shape to determine a bird’s group,

let’s add more details to help identify a bird by species.

Your Habitat: __________________________________________ Date: _______________

Where was it? (circle one): At a feeder In the water On the ground

 In trees or bushes On a fence or wire Soaring or flying

What size was the bird? Put a star on the line closest to the size of the bird you saw.

Circle up to three main colors you saw.

Black Gray White Brown

Red Orange Yellow Green Blue

The bird size graphic is from the Be a Better BIrder tutorial at birds.cornell.edu/courses/home/tutorial ©2016 Cornell University

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With this information, you have a good chance of identifying your bird. You can use a field 

guide or app to help you. If you have a smartphone or tablet, the Merlin Bird ID app can 

give you a list of birds you might have seen. merlin.allaboutbirds.org

Did you notice any interesting patterns on the bird? Were there stripes on the head or wings? 

Sketch or make notes about any patterns you observed.

Sketch and Notes

I think my bird is: _____________________________________________________

It’s okay if you don’t know the species. What type of bird do you think it is?

9

brownish body thick beak

black chin

white wingbar

Example:
What is citizen science? Scientists around the world depend on people like you to help 

collect information, called data. There are lots of different citizen-science projects for 

studying birds, butterflies, frogs, and more. When you collect data for these projects, 

you are a citizen scientist!

Find a good spot to look for birds and carefully collect data during a 

5- to 10-minute bird count. If you don’t know the name of a bird, 

make notes or a sketch and look it up later. 

Bird Count

You’ve learned a lot about habitat and the birds around you. 

Use your new skills to count birds and become a citizen scientist!

Location: ______________________________________ Start time: ____________________

Date: ____________________________ How long was your count: ____________________

Circle one: Stationary Traveling (Did you stay in one place?) (Did you move from one place to another?)

Species Number seen

Become a citizen scientist! With the help of an adult, enter your data at 

ebird.org to help scientists learn about the birds you saw!

10
Exploring nature can leave you with lots of questions. It’s OK if you don’t know the answers! 

Write down your questions so you can explore these topics later.

I Wonder

You’ve done a great job exploring the national wildlife refuge! 

Did you discover anything that you want to learn more about?

11
The National Wildlife Refuge System protects a national network of lands and waters that 

benefits birds and other wildlife for enjoyment by the American public. National wildlife refuges 

are home to more than 700 species of birds. For information about visitor programs and birdviewing opportunities, please visit fws.gov/refuges/birding/.

THANKS FOR EXPLORING NATURE WITH BIRDSLEUTH!

Download your BirdSleuth Explorer’s Certificate at birdsleuth.org/explorer. 

You may also want to explore these Cornell Lab of Ornithology sites:

 Visit allaboutbirds.org to look up the birds you saw today and learn 

cool facts about them. 

 You can be a citizen scientist by entering counts for any location into 

eBird, including your backyard or neighborhood! ebird.org

 Download the Merlin Bird ID app or use the photo identification tool 

online at merlin.allaboutbirds.org.

All illustrations by Bartels Science Illustration Intern Anna Rettberg, ©2016 Cornell University, unless otherwise noted.