Seattle, WA98115 8050 35thAve NE AudubonSeattle Education Please tear offthispageandsenditto: Where didyou Audubon hear ofSeattle ______before seeingthisbooklet? Parent Signature: ______School: ______Grade: _____City: ______Zip: ______Name: ______Age: _____Address: ______Audubon’sJoin Seattle Family and Youth Programs List to Mailing hearaboutupcoming opportunities. Want to learn more about birds?

Seattle is -- FOR THE BIRDS www.seattleaudubon.org usontheweb! Visit How to Identify Common Seattle Birds Notes

Offi cial Bird of Seattle - The Great Blue Heron We hope you will use this book to learn how to look at the birds all around us in a new light. Over a hundred different bird species share our great city. This book features some of the ones you are most likely to see. Can you fi nd them all in your neighborhood and nearby parks? Brought to you by: The Seattle Audubon Society and Seattle Parks and Recreation

Concept used with permission from Adam Kent and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Adapted by Emily Sprong and Rachel Lawson Artwork by Kelley Palmer-McCarty With thanks to the Seattle Parks and Recreation Summer Day Camp Environmental Stewardship Task Force

Available for download at www.seattleaudubon.org - click on Education

p2 p23 Index of Pictures The Featured Flock... American Coot 4, 12, 13, 17 Belted Kingfi sher (♀) American Crow 3, 10, 14 American Crow Habitat: American Goldfi nch 5, 7, 16, 18 Habitat: near American Robin 3, 10, 18 everywhere water Anna’s Hummingbird 4, 9, 13, 14, 16 Bald Eagle 4, 8, 17 Barn Swallow 3, 12, 16 Red-breasted Belted Kingfi sher 3, 12, 13, 17 Nuthatch Bewick’s Wren 4, 8 Barn Swallow Habitat: Black-capped Chickadee 5, 11 parks, Habitat: open gardens, Bushtit 3, 6, 13 areas, fi elds woods Double-crested Cormorant 5, 9, 18 Downy Woodpecker 5, 13, 14, 16 European Starling 4, 10 Glaucous-winged Gull Glaucous-winged Gull 3, 6, 10, 17 Habitat: American Robin Great Blue Heron 2, 4, 6, 8, 13 beaches, House Finch 5, 10 Habitat: lakes, open lawns, areas, parking House Sparrow 5, 10, 18 parks, lots Killdeer 4, 7, 11 woods Mallard 3, 10, 14 Bushtit Northern Flicker 1, 4, 12, 17 Habitat: Red-breasted Nuthatch 3, 12, 16 parks, Steller’s Jay Red-winged Blackbird 5, 10, 18 gardens, woods Song Sparrow 5, 8 Habitat: forests, Spotted Towhee 4, 9 wooded Mallard (♂) Steller’s Jay 3, 12 parks Habitat: White-crowned Sparrow 5, 7, 11, 16 wetlands, open water Check the box beside each bird you have seen p22 p3 How many of these have you seen? Create Your Own Bird Now make up your own bird and draw it below. Be sure to Northern Flicker (♂) Anna’s describe its size, shape, fi eld marks, habitat, behavior and song. What does it eat? Hummingbird (♂) Habitat: woods, Habitat: parks, woods, parks, gardens gardens

Bewick’s Wren Habitat: Spotted Towhee woods, parks, Habitat: gardens woods, parks, gardens European Starling American Coot Habitat: Habitat: everywhere water

Killdeer Great Blue Heron Habitat: near your bird’s name water, gravel parking lots size and shape fi eld marks Bald Eagle Habitat: Habitat: habitat song near wetlands, water, open water fl ying behavior bill type / food overhead p4 p21 Test Your Memory Song Sparrow Downy Woodpecker Can you describe the size and shape of one bird? Habitat: Habitat: woods, woods, bird name: parks, parks, gardens size and shape: gardens

Can you describe the fi eld marks of one bird? House Sparrow (♂) bird name: White-crowned fi eld marks: Habitat: Sparrow cities, Habitat: Can you describe one bird’s bill and what it eats? parking parks, lots gardens, bird name: parking lots kind of bill: American Goldfi nch (♂) food: Black-capped Habitat: Chickadee woods, Habitat: Can you describe one behavior and a bird that does it? parks, woods, gardens bird name: parks, gardens behavior: Red-winged Blackbird (♂) Can you name one habitat and a bird that lives there?

bird name: Habitat: near water habitat: House Finch (♀) Double-crested Can you describe one bird’ s voice? Cormorant Habitat: bird name: parks, Habitat: water gardens voice:

p20 p5 Bird Identifi cation Clues Draw a Bird Use these important clues to identify a bird... Choose a bird from this book or another one you’ve seen, then draw it and fi ll out the information for it at the bottom of the page. Clue 1: Body Type (Size & Shape) Often the fi rst thing you notice. Things to look at: Overall shape of the bird (fat, thin, tall, short); length of neck, legs, tail, bill; shape of tail, wings, bill, head

The Great Blue Heron is tall and thin. It has long legs, a long neck and a short tail.

The Glaucous-winged Gull has a wedge-shaped body and a round head.

The Bushtit is tiny with a bird’s name round body, long tail and small, thin bill. size and shape fi eld marks Can you think of the sizes and shapes of any other birds?

Bird Name: ______habitat sound

Size and shape: ______behavior bill type / food

p6 p19 Where Are They Seen? Clue 2: Colors & Patterns (Field Marks) Draw a line from the bird to the kind of HABITAT where you’d Very important for identifying birds that are a similar size and expect to see it. shape. Things to look at: Overall colors, colors of the head, bill, wings, tail, back, breast, belly, legs, feet; patterns on the head, wings, tail, upper and under-parts.

Red-winged The White-crowned Sparrow has a distinctive striped at a bird feeder Blackbird (♂) pattern on its head. Its undersides are clear gray with no streaks or spots.

in an urban area American Robin The American Goldfi nch (♂) is bright yellow with black wings and tail and a black forehead. Its wings in a park or lawn Double-crested Cormorant have white bars.

The Killdeer has a brown back, white belly, and two in the water distinctive black bands House Sparrow (♂) around its neck and breast. It also has a dark moustache stripe on its cheek.

in a wetland American Goldfi nch (♂) Can you think of some fi eld marks for other birds? Can you think of any other kinds of birds and their habitats? Bird Name: ______Bird ______Bird ______Field Marks: ______Habitat______Habitat______p18 p7 Clue 3: Bill Types, Also Called Beaks How Do They Act? Bills help us identify birds and know something about what Draw a line from the description of the BEHAVIOR to the they eat. drawing of the bird that does it, then to the bird’s name.

The Great Blue Heron’s bill swimming & Northern is long and pointed like a diving from Flicker (♂) spear. It is good for catching the water fi sh.

The Song Sparrow’s bill is short, gathering in thick and pointed. It is good for American large, noisy cracking and eating seeds. Coot groups

The Bewick’s Wren’s bill is small and thin. It is good for eating insects. pecking on Glaucous- the side of a winged tree Gull The Bald Eagle’s bill is large and sharply hooked. It is good for tearing meat. Diving into the water from the air Bald Eagle

Can you think of any other kinds of bills and their uses?

Bird Name: ______fl ying with- out fl apping Belted Bill description______(soaring) Kingfi sher (♀) Uses: ______

p8 p17 Can You Describe Them? Clue 4: How do they act? FACIAL FEATURES: Draw a line from the drawing of the Does the bird walk or hop? Does it stand in the water, on a bird’s head to its description, then to the bird’s name. branch, or hold onto the side of a tree? Does it fl ap its wings a lot, a little, or almost never? Does it move its head, wings or yellow with tail in an unusual way? How does it get its food? Is it found in a black forehead American group, a pair, or alone? Goldfi nch white chin, thick (♂) black eyestripe, The Double-crested white line over Cormorant often eye, & black cap swims low in the water. It also sits in the sun Red-breasted with its wings spread. gray cheek with Nuthatch black stripe, then white stripe, then black, then The Spotted Towhee white crown Anna’s hides in low bushes and Hummingbird underbrush. It looks for Shiny red scales (♂) insects under leaves by on entire head kicking backwards with with white eye- both feet at once. stripe Downy The Anna’s Hummingbird ( ) hovers in front of fl ow- Black stripe, Woodpecker ♀ then white (♂) ers and sips nectar. stripe on cheek, black eye-stripe, white stripe over eye, black Can you think of another kind of behavior and why a cap, & small red White-crowned bird acts this way? patch at back of Sparrow head Bird name: ______Behavior: ______

Glossy blue- Why do you think the bird does this? ______black back of Barn head, reddish- Swallow brown face ______p16 p9 Clue 5: Where is it seen? DISTINCTIVE MARKS: Match the bird with the best A habitat is where an animal is usually found. Did you see the description of its FIELD MARKS. You can use the index to bird in the woods, in a park, in the city or on the water? look up birds you don’t know. Parks, Lawns and Gardens

Wetlands Song Sparrow dark brown body, white head and tail

American Robin House Finch (♀) plain brown with Red-winged Blackbird (♂) Killdeer white eyebrow Open Water - lakes, ponds, Puget Sound Urban Areas European two black rings Starling around neck and breast

Black-capped blue with black Mallard (♂) House Sparrow (♂) Chickadee head and breast Many Habitats

Steller’s Jay glossy black with light spots and yellow bill Glaucous-winged European Gull Bald Eagle black crown and American Crow Starling throat, white Can you think of another habitat and some birds that cheeks live there? Habitat: ______Bewick’s Wren streaky brown Birds: ______

p10 p15 Which Clues Fit These Birds? Clue 6: What kind of voice does it have? Birds can make many different sounds. Some birds sound a BODY TYPE: Draw a line from the drawing of the bird little bit like they are saying something in English. to its description, and then draw a line from the description to its name. The Killdeer usually says ‘k’dee’ but sometimes it The Black-capped whistles its name, large body, Chickadee calls its name. ‘kill-deer.’ Downy round head Woodpecker chick - a - with short (♂) dee - dee- curled tail dee k’deeeee k’deeeee k’deeeee k’deeeee

very short neck, stiff American The White-crowned Sparrow tail, short Crow says ‘See me pretty pretty me. ’ legs If these translations don’t make sense to you, make up your own to help you remember what a bird sounds like. No matter what birds say, be sure to listen to them. You’ll soon fi nd that you can recognize them just by their sounds. tiny, narrow wings and Mallard (♂) long thin Clue 7: Dressed like a Boy or Girl? bill Male and female birds sometimes look different. The symbol ♀ is used for females and ♂ for males. Can you fi nd a male and female of the same kind of bird somewhere in this book (there large are two) and describe the diferences? and solid, Anna’s upright Bird Name:______Bird Name:______posture Hummingbird (♂) with heavy Differences: ______Differences: ______bill ______

p14 p11 Let’s Review the Clues What do they eat? What kind of food do you think a Look through the fi rst part of this book to help you with these bird with a BILL like this would eat? Circle your answer. games. Bushtit Anna’s Belted Hummingbird (♀) Kingfi sher (♀) BODY TYPE: Circle the word or words under the bird that best describes its size and shape

Belted Barn SwallowKingfi sher (♀) American Coot meat fi sh insects fl ower nectar what do you fl ower nectar seeds think?______How do they act? Circle the best description of each bird’s BEHAVIOR. Downy Great Blue Heron American Woodpecker (♀) Coot tall long neck medium-length neck long tail large head short tail long legs long legs upright posture

FIELD MARKS: Cross out the word or words under the bird that ARE NOT good fi eld marks. swimming standing in water what do you standing on one leg diving think?______Northern Red-breasted Steller’s Jay holding onto the side hopping on ground Flicker (♂) Nuthatch of a tree Where are they seen? Cross out the name of the bird that does not belong in each HABITAT. Urban Lawn Open Water

European Starling American Crow American Coot moustache stripe spotted belly crest on head House Sparrow Bald Eagle Double-crested short bill streaked back black head Spotted Towhee American Robin Cormorant plain underside black eyestripe white chin Song Sparrow p12 p13