MARCH 2015 • NEBRASKAland 35
have a loud, distinctive call. We used a birding app so we
could quickly see what the bird looked like, play its recorded
call and then match it to the real bird in the woods.
We all learned identification and observation skills this
year. On a summer day morning on the way to work, I had
my 6-year-old daughter Mira with me when I saw a great
egret in Holmes Lake. We stopped and approached the edge
of the water very cautiously. Over the year, I had realized
that binoculars can be frustrating for children. It is hard for
them to hold the binoculars steady and keep a bird in view,
so Mira usually preferred to use her own binoculars that
she proudly made from toilet paper tubes. Today, however,
it was just the two of us and a big, white, slowly moving
bird which provided the perfect opportunity to practice with
Mom's binoculars.
"Keep your eyes on the bird. Don't move your head
and bring the binoculars up to your eyes." I waited until I
believed she was actually looking at the egret rather than the
treetops.
"Mom … it has an orange beak," Mira whispered. I
smiled. Not only was she viewing the bird through the
binoculars, but she was picking up on the clues to help
identify the bird. You never know how long a bird is going
to pose for you, so after the first glance at the overall color,
we then take a second look at the chest, back, head, legs and
tail for different colors and patterns. The bill can be helpful
both in color and shape. The relative size of the bird can be
difficult, but we found that we could talk about whether it
was sparrow-sized, robin-sized, crow-sized or hawk-sized.
We would use all these details to try to figure out what birds
we were looking at together.
"Good look Mira! But what color are the legs?"
We were successful last year, and had a grand total of
108 birds. Most were in Nebraska, but we also birded
in four other states. Now I have a family of birders who
actively seek birds and identifies them, rather than passively
watching.
This became apparent one summer afternoon when I was
watching a common grackle in our backyard. Gabrielle
came up to me and asked, "Is that a regular one or a great-
tailed grackle?" I kissed the top of her head, smiled and
asked, "What do you think?" ■
ON A COLD DAY AT THE PARK, Kristal Stoner and her children Gabrielle and Mira watch for birds and listen for
the sound of their calls. When birding with children, don't let equipment get in the way. Accept that there may be an
occasional binocular strap in the way, and swap out real binoculars for more colorful, creative toilet paper versions.
