Misha Bansal

Get ready to explore the world of birds!

Early Bird is facilitating frequent interactions with children who want to learn about birds, or get started with birdwatching. We have launched a series of walks in Bangalore cover a host of themes to get children excited about birds. 

These walks offer holistic understanding of birds, going beyond just spotting and identification. They are a combination of bird walks and nature-related activities or games in an outdoor setting such as a lake or a trail. 

They take place once a month. The details will be announced on our social media handles as well as updated on this blog post. These sessions are specifically designed for children, they will specify an age group and will require registration to attend. Since there will be limited seats at each event, we will accept participants on a first come first serve basis with a preference for the desired age group mentioned in the details. 

The walks will be free of cost but a fee will be charged for the educational materials (pocket guide, games, stickers) provided as part of the activities. This will have to be done at the time of registration. Adults accompanying the child need not pay the fee.

Here are the details of the walks held so far.
Bird Walk at Doddanekundi Lake
24 March 2024
The morning commenced with introductions, followed by the formation of children and parent groups. In this walk, we invited birdwatchers to lead a spearate bird walk for the parents. Participants observed mynas, parakeets, barbets and kites – all in the process of making nests.  The theme of the walk was “the life cycle of a bird”. Participants immersed themselves in the “Breeding Birds Game” and “Bird Survivor Game,” gaining insight into challenges faced by birds. The walk concluded with a sharing circle.
 
Bird Walk at Yelahanka Puttanahalli Lake
18 February 2024
This walk was all about the life cycle of a bird. We started by discussing the different stages in the life of a bird, and made guesses about what stage of their life birds in Puttanahalli Lake were. We used the breeding bird grid to look for signs if a bird is breeding. We saw birds singing, visiting potential nest sites, carrying nesting material, building nests, birds sitting on nests and nests with chicks. Other creatures like water skaters, skinks, hornets and stick mantises made a guest appearance during the walk. We concluded with the bird survivor game, where we discussed how a bird’s life is full of challenges at all stages.
 
Bird Walk at Kasavanahalli Lake
21 January 2024
In this walk, we understood how the different components of the lake are used by birds. Participants drew a sketch of the lake and added sources of food, water and shelter for birds to their sketches. Physics made a surprise appearance during our chat about the incredible feet of Jacanas and Pond Skater insects. Two lessons we took away were – Not every bird that takes a dip in the water is a fish-eater and birds in water don’t always stay there. Cormorants, storks, and egrets, for instance, find shelter in unexpected places and even build nests high up in trees.
 
Bird Walk at Saul Kere
23 December 2023
The walk started with an exploration of the many birds Saul Kere is home to. Participants gave birds their own made-up names. Ibises were called “chopsticks bird”, Jacanas were called “bigfoot” while Spot-billed Ducks were named “Cheetah Bird”. Each participant then chose a bird and observed its behaviour deeply. The walk concluded with categorising observations into protective, feeding, breeding and social behaviours.
 
Bird Walk at Jakkur Lake
26 November 2023
The session started with a fact or fiction game about birds. Participants then drew a map of Jakkur lake and listed all its components. We then observed all the birds around us, discussing their adaptations, sounds and behaviour. Each participant then chose a bird and added it to their map with guesses about its food, water, shelter and nesting in Jakkur Lake.
 
Bird Walk at Lalbagh
11 October 2023
We started the session with the bird survivor game, explaining the stages of a bird’s life and the challenges they face in each. We then explored the birds in Lalbagh with discussions about their behaviour, challenges they face, their nesting habits and structural adaptations. The walk concluded with the Bird Bingo game.
 
 
Bird Walk at JP Park, Mathikere
10 September 2023
We went on a bird walk filled with excitement and curiosity. We spotted Spot-billed Ducks, herons, and peafowls. Through the spotting scope, the kids got up close to observe the eye colours of birds. During the walk, the children keenly observed the birds, focusing not on their names but on the vibrant colours, distinctive bill shapes, and unique characteristics. Our day was complete with fun games like the sound map, bird bingo, and memory game that added an extra dash of learning and fun.
 
 
Bird Walk at Yelahanka Lake
30 July 2023
This walk explored how different birds use the Yelahanka Lake habitats differently. We observed cormorants carrying nesting materials to build their nests,  moorhen and swamphen parents caring for their babies, a sunbird nest, darters preening, ibises feeding and many other birds going about their business. We learned about Yelahanka Lake’s diverse habitats through a map activity that encouraged participants to observe the water, reeds, marshes and built up structures in the lake. As a result, they gained a deeper understanding of how birds adapt to different habitats.
 
 
Habitat Huntdown at Cubbon Park
14 May 2023
The walk began with drawing the different components of the Cubbon Park habitat. Then, we explored different birds in the habitat. We were witnesses to a bird crime in action – a black kite stealing twigs from another kite’s nest. The other group, on the other hand, saw an instance of cooperation among black kites where three individuals were creating one single nest together! We then discussed how the different birds that we observed use Cubbon Park to thrive – mainly discussing their sources of food, water, shelter and places to nest. 
 
Birds on the Move at Lalbagh
16 April 2023
This was focussed on all things related to how birds move and why they move the way they do. We started the session with observing the different lake birds in Lalbagh, discussing their behaviour. Then, each participant chose one bird that they observed in detail and made notes about it in their journal. We then grouped the different behaviours they observed into categories like nesting behaviour, feeding behaviour, social behaviour and self care.
 
 
Move ‘n’ Groove with Birds at Sultanpur National Park, NCR
22 January 2023
This walk was hosted in NCR as opposed to our usual location, Bangalore. The walk happened on a foggy day with almost no visibility. We started with an energiser called “Act like a …” where we acted like different organisms in the natural world. We then talked about the different kinds of behaviours birds exhibit and went on a bird walk that focussed on not the names but the movements of birds. This was followed by the ‘All in a Bird’s Life’ game. We concluded the walk with a reflection circle where everyone shared something new that they learned during the session.
 
 
A Morning with Birds at Cubbon Park
4 December 2022
Under the shade of a huge fig tree, we began this session with a Fact or Fiction game and uncovered cool facts about birds. This was followed by a Bird Bingo game to make the participants familiar with the surroundings. We then did an exploration of the habitat where each participant picked one bird and observed it for 15 minutes. They noted down its behaviour, how it looked and what it sounded like. The session was concluded with a game called ‘All in a Bird’s Life’ where we talked about the different challenges birds face on a daily basis.  
 
Games Galore at Courtyard Koota
27 November 2022
This session was full of fun games about birds to help kids understand bird behaviour and habitats. We started off with a movement activity where the kids acted like different things they see in nature. This was followed by the Fact or Fiction game and a bird walk where kids focussed on what birds were doing instead of just finding their names. We also played a Memory Game with our flashcards, and concluded the session with a sharing circle. 
 
Birdy Conversations at Cubbon Park
25 September 2022
In this walk, the participants opened their eyes and ears to observe Cubbon Park as a bird habitat. We first trained our ears to listen to different sounds in the milieu using a sound map activity. Then we moved on to learning about a bird’s relationship with its habitat, and discovered the different components of a habitat that a bird uses to thrive.
 
Habitat Huntdown at Yelahanka Lake
27 August 2022
We kicked off with understanding what a habitat is and capturing the lay of the land in a map. We talked about all the living things that the Yelahanka Lake habitat might support and what they need to survive. Zooming in and across the landscape using a spotting scope and binoculars, we were on a mission to find as many microhabitats as we could.
 
Birdwalk at Dodabommasandra Lake
24 July 2022
We kick started the walk with our Bird Detectives Bingo, and then watched the water birds at the lake. The participants searched for bird names using our pocket guides along with noticing all the quirky behaivours the birds displayed.
 
Here are some snippets from the sessions…
Spotting dabbling ducks at Doddabomassandra Lake
Mapping Yelahanka Lake
Looking for birds in different microhabitats of Yelahanka Lake
Focussing on bird behaviour instead of just names
Finding birds in Early Bird’s Pocket guide
Understanding bird habitat and food with the flashcards memory game

17 Thoughts on “Series: Bird Walks for Children”

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