Creamer's Field Student Activity Book

Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge Fairbanks, Alaska Page 2 Alaska Songbird Institute Table of Contents Introduction Waterfowl (Geese & Ducks) Welcome to the new Creamer's Field Greater White-fronted Goose...... 4 Student Activity Book! This book Canada Goose...... 5 includes a coloring guide to many Mallard...... 6 of the common birds you can see at Northern Pintail...... 7 Creamer's Field. It also includes some Birds of Prey (Raptors) pages to use in school and at home. Bald Eagle...... 8 Peregrine Falcon...... 9 We hope that you will remember to Cranes bring it with you every time you visit Sandhill Crane...... 10 Creamer's Field and to share what you Flycatchers have learned with others! Alder Flycatcher...... 11 Chickadees If you have feedback or questions, Black-capped Chickadee...... 12 please contact the Alaska Songbird Kinglets Institute. This book and other Ruby-crowned Kinglet...... 13 educational materials are available Thrushes on our website at: Swainson’s Thrush...... 14

http://aksongbird.org. American Robin...... 15 Warblers This book was provided for you by Orange-crowned Warbler...... 16 the Alaska Songbird Institute with support from Yellow-rumped Warbler...... 17 the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. Wilson’s Warbler...... 18 Sparrows Slate-colored (Dark-eyed) Junco.....19 White-crowned Sparrow...... 20 Lincoln’s Sparrow...... 21 Finches Common Redpoll...... 22 Data Collection...... 23 Think Like a Chickadee...... 24 ©2013 Alaska Songbird Institute. Birds Around Your Home...... 25 All rights reserved. Conservation Hints...... 26 Limited permission is granted to educators to Your Notes & Sketches...... 27 reproduce these materials for use by their students. Checklist...... 28 Page 3 Alaska Songbird Institute Before you go to Creamer's Field...

What kinds of plants and animals do you think live at Creamer's Field? Draw them or describe them here.

What do you hope to see at Creamer's Field? What do you want to learn about? Draw or write about it here. Page 4 Alaska Songbird Institute

GWFG Greater White-fronted Goose Food (Anser albifrons)

1 5 grasses 9 5 2 & grain

5 5 Habitat

1 2 5 2 color code 2 1 white 8 2 black 8 wetlands 5 brown 8 orange 9 pink

Cool Fact: Like many geese, Greater White-fronted Goose pairs stay together for years. Pairs migrate together, often with their LEGEND young from previous years. Parents summer and siblings may continue to travel together throughout their lives. winter year round Page 5 Alaska Songbird Institute CANG

Canada Goose 1 (Branta canadensis) 2

color code 5 2 1 1 white 5 2 black 5 brown 5 5

5 5 1 1 5 2 1 2

Food Habitat

grasses wetlands & grain

Cool Fact: Some Canada Geese do not go as far south in the winter as they used to. LEGEND Why? What has changed? summer Scientists think it may be due to changes in winter farmlands and weather that have made more food available in the fall and winter. year round Page 6 Alaska Songbird Institute

MALL Mallard Cool Fact: The Mallard is the (Anas platyrhynchos) ancestor of nearly all domestic ducks!

7 color code 3 1 white 1 2 black 5 3 yellow 10 5 brown 6 6 6 gray 1 8 orange 10 10 blue 6 1

6 2 2 8 1

Food Habitat

LEGEND grasses, grain, summer seeds, & insects wetlands winter year round Page 7 Alaska Songbird Institute

NOPI Northern Pintail color code (Anas acuta) 1 white 2 black 5 brown 6 gray 10 light 5 10 blue

2 2 2 2 2 1 2 6 1

Food Habitat

grasses, grain, wetlands seeds, & insects LEGEND Cool Fact: The Northern Pintail summer is one of the earliest nesting ducks in North winter America. They will build their nest and lay eggs as soon as the ice is out in Alaska! year round Page 8 Alaska Songbird Institute

BAEA

Bald Eagle 3 color code (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1 white 3 yellow 1 5 brown Food

5 5 mostly fish & 5 birds

Habitat 5

1 5 1

forested areas near water

Food Habitat Cool Fact: Bald Eagles were taken off the endangered species list in 2007 after 35 years! Eagles almost went extinct because of illegal hunting, loss of habitat, and a chemical called DDT. People used DDT to protect crops LEGEND from insects, but it accumulated in the summer environment and harmed many predators, winter including Bald Eagles. When DDT was banned and eagles were protected, their populations year round recovered. Page 9 Alaska Songbird Institute PEFA 3 3 6 Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 2 color code 1 white 6 1 2 black 3 yellow 6 gray

6

1

3 3 3 Food Habitat

mostly birds open habitats

The name "peregrine" Cool Fact: LEGEND means wanderer. Peregrine Falcons have one of the longest migrations of any bird in summer North America. Birds that nest in Alaska may winter travel over 15,000 miles each year going from year Alaska to South America and back! round Page 10 Alaska Songbird Institute

SACR Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) 4 1 1 color code 1 white 2 black 4 red 5 light brown 6 6 6 gray

5 5 6

2 2

Food Habitat

grasses, grain, seeds, & insects wetlands LEGEND summer Cool Fact: Sandhill Cranes dance! You may see them bow, jump, run, toss sticks winter or grass, and flap their wings. Cranes often year dance to bond with their mate. round Page 11 Alaska Songbird Institute

ALFL 2 Alder Flycatcher 7 3 Cool Fact: (Empidonax alnorum) 1 Most songbirds need to learn their color code song from their 7 parents. However, 1 white flycatchers and their 2 2 black relatives (called 3 bright subocines) are born yellow 2 with the all the 7 olive instructions they green 7 2 need to sing the 1 right song.

7

Food Habitat

LEGEND summer

insects shrubs winter year round Page 12 Alaska Songbird Institute BCCH Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

color code 1 white 6 2 black 3 light yellow 1 6 gray 6 Cool Fact: 2 Black-capped Chickadees are the smallest birds that can survive 1 winters in Interior Alaska. Each fall they hide seeds and insects 2 1 3 to eat in the winter, and their brains grow new neurons to help them remember thousands of hiding places!

Food Habitat

LEGEND summer

winter insects & seeds mixed forests year round Page 13 Alaska Songbird Institute RCKI Ruby-crowned

Kinglet 7 (Regulus calendula) 4 7 color code 7 7 1 white 4 red 7 olive green

1

Food Habitat

insects

mixed forests

Cool Fact: Ruby-crowned Kinglets are tiny birds that lay a lot of eggs. A group of eggs in one nest is called a clutch. A female kinglet's clutch LEGEND can contain as many as 12 eggs and summer weigh more then the female herself! winter year round Page 14 Alaska Songbird Institute

SWTH color code 1 white Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) 3 light yellow 3 5 brown 5 Cool Fact: Almost 60% of the world's Swainson's Thrushes nest in the boreal forest. The boreal forest stretches across most of Canada and Alaska and is an important nesting habitat for many 5 of the world's birds. 3

5 1

Food Habitat

LEGEND summer

insects & berries forest edges winter year round Page 15 Alaska Songbird Institute

AMRO 2 3 American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

color code 2 black 3 light 6 yellow 4 red 4 6 gray

Food Habitat

insects & berries open woodlands

LEGEND summer Cool Fact: The oldest American Robin on record was 13 years winter and 11 months old! year round Page 16 Alaska Songbird Institute

OCWA color code 7 olive Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata) green 8 8 orange

7

7

7 7

Food Habitat

insects shrubs LEGEND Cool Fact: Orange-crowned summer Warblers flit through vegetation removing insects from the tips of branches and leaves. winter This way of feeding is called gleaning. year round Page 17 Alaska Songbird Institute MYWA Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler (Dendroica coronata)

color code 3 3 1 white 6 2 black 6 3 bright 2 yellow 1 6 gray 6 3 1

Food Habitat

insects mixed forests

Cool Fact: There are two different kinds of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Myrtle LEGEND warblers are found in the east and north (including Alaska). Audubon's warblers summer are found in the west. Both have a yellow winter spot on their rumps that has earned them the year nickname "butter rump!" round Page 18 Alaska Songbird Institute

WIWA 2

Wilson’s Warbler 3 (Wilsonia pusilla)

color code 7 2 black 3 bright yellow 3 7 olive green 7 3

Food Habitat

insects shrubs

Cool Fact: Wilson's Warblers LEGEND are named for Scottish-American naturalist summer Alexander Wilson. He traveled throughout winter North America in the early 1800s watching, painting, and describing the birds he saw. year round Page 19 Alaska Songbird Institute SCJU Slate-colored 9 6 (Dark-eyed) Junco (Junco hyemalis) 6

color code 1 white 1 6 gray 9 pink

6

1

Food Habitat

insects & seeds mixed forests LEGEND summer Cool Fact: The male Dark-eyed winter Junco's song is an even trill that many people think sounds like a telephone. year round Page 20 Alaska Songbird Institute

GWCS 1 1 2 2 1 White-crowned 6 9 Sparrow Food (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

color code 1 white 2 black 5 insects & seeds 5 brown 5 6 6 gray Habitat 5

shrubs 6

LEGEND Cool Fact: A migrating White- summer crowned Sparrow was once tracked winter moving 300 miles in one night! year round Page 21 Alaska Songbird Institute

LISP Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) 5 5 1

6 6 5 6 5 6 3 6 3 5 color code 1 3 1 white 3 3 light 1 yellow 5 brown 6 gray

Food Habitat

insects & seeds wetlands

LEGEND Cool Fact: Lincoln's summer Sparrows live and feed in dense grasses and shrubs. winter They are very secretive. year round Page 22 Alaska Songbird Institute CORE Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) Food Habitat

color code 3 1 white 5 4 2 black 3 yellow 4 red 5 insects & seeds mixed forests 5 brown 5 2

Cool Fact: 5 Redpolls have throat pouches for storing seeds. They may fill 5 their pouches at your bird feeder in winter, and then swallow and digest the seeds during the cold 5 1 winter night.

1 LEGEND summer

winter year round Page 23 Alaska Songbird Institute Collecting Data This is an example of a data sheet like those used by the Alaska Songbird Institute. The information on the sheet is from actual birds captured at Creamer's Field. You can add new data from birds you see being banded while you visit ASI.

We determine the age of the bird A four-letter species code and give it a code of 1 (AHY = is used to describe the type bird is at least one year old), 2 of bird that was banded. (HY = bird hatched this year), or Use the bird pages to figure 0 (unknown age). out what species were banded.

Female songbirds develop a brood patch (BP) Each bird gets a metal leg band with a unique during the breeding season for incubating their eggs. number on it. This makes sure we don't count the The BP is an area on the belly without any feathers same bird twice when figuring out how many birds so the bird's hot skin lays right up against the eggs are around. We can also compare measurements if to keep them warm. We give the BP a score from 0 we catch the bird another time. (no bare patch) to 3 (complete BP). All birds have a cloaca, or opening through which Wing and tail are measured in millimeters using a special ruler. waste and reproductive material pass. The cloaca of We record the time at which a bird was captured as well as the net male songbirds enlarges during the breeding season in which the bird was caught. to form a cloacal protuberance (CP). We give the CP a score of 0 (no swelling) to 3 (very swollen). We look for fat along the bird's wishbone (also called a furcula) and give it a score from 0 (no fat) to 7 (lots of fat). Weight is measured in grams using a scale. Page 24 Alaska Songbird Institute

Think like a chickadee...

Look around the boreal forest. Can you find food, water, and shelter in your habitat? Where will you build your nest? Draw it. Where will you hide? Trace your path around your habitat. Page 25 Alaska Songbird Institute Birds don't just live at Creamer's Field. They live around your house, too!

What kind of habitat do you live in?

If you live in the forest... Look for Northern Shrikes & Black-capped Chickadees.

If you live in the city... Look for Pigeons & Common Ravens.

If you live near a field...Look for Northern Harriers & American Robins.

If you live near the water... Look for Mallards, Bald Eagles, & Arctic Terns.

Can you find these birds? What can you do to make their habitat a safe place? Page 26 Alaska Songbird Institute

Charlie & Anna Creamer believed in conservation. Conservation means protecting habitats for wildlife, plants, and all living things. You can help protect habitats too! Here's are some ideas about how to do it.

Keep habitats clean by putting your trash in the garbage and by picking up trash you see on the ground.

Protect nesting habitats by saving snags (standing dead trees) and building nesting boxes.

Make your home a safe place for birds by keeping your cat inside and asking your neighbors to do the same.

Provide food for birds in winter by building bird feeders. Watch and describe the birds you see.

Teach your friends and family about conservation by telling them what you learned at Creamer's Field! Page 27 Alaska Songbird Institute

Your Notes & Sketches Page 28 Alaska Songbird Institute Creamer's Checklist See Hear Greater White-fronted Goose a bird song Canada Goose a Sandhill Crane call Mallard ______Northern Pintail ______Bald Eagle ______Peregrine Falcon Sandhill Crane Smell Alder Flycatcher Black-capped Chickadee a balsam poplar bud in spring Ruby-crowned Kinglet fall foliage Swainson's Thrush ______American Robin ______Orange-crowned Warbler ______Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler Wilson's Warbler Taste Slate-colored (Dark-eyed) Junco a spruce needle White-crowned Sparrow a spring sugar drop Lincoln's Sparrow ______Common Redpoll ______

barley an old nest Touch a spruce tree a feather an animal track a mist net sign of a moose ______an insect home ______