BirdHabitat
 Project BirdHabitat will help students reconize and study the natural habitats of birds in local and global communities. Through this project, students will have the opportunity to research, publish their work, and share information with students throughout the Americas.
Traditionally seeing robins is a sure sign that spring is returning!!
 Click the photo to go to the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center U.S. Geological Survey - Biological Resources, where you will find an identification guide to North American birds and other very useful sources of information to help you learn more about birds and their habitats. See the USGS pages to help you identify robins that might be near your school or home!
Send your robin sightings to Journey North and participate in their monitoring project and their challenge activities!
Publish additional writings, drawings, photos and observations about robins in your community on the CommunityNet page.
Here are some references for teachers and students to help you get started.
 A Guide to Bird Education Resources: Migratory Birds of the Americas, and Annotated Bibliography of Books and Resources for students and teachers. Good resource to use to plan a class project about birds.
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network: Includes excellent background materials, information about ordering teacher activitiy guide, Save our Migratory Birds (available in English and Spanish), shorebird quizes and identification guides to shorebirds
Shorebird Background Materials for teachers and secondary students
The Ramsar site provides information about complex issues including the relationship between environmental protection of wetlands and the economy. The site is available in Spanish and English
ECO-O.K. Rainforest Alliance:
"PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Most consumers are unaware of how everyday products--such as bananas and coffee-- affect the environments of producing countries. Among the serious negative impacts of tropical agriculture are: high levels of pesticides and fertilizers,
conversion of rainforests into monocultures, displacement of wildlife, and improper waste disposal. Other areas of concern include soil erosion, sedimentation and pollution of rivers, and
unsafe working conditions."
The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has the following fact sheets in both English and Spanish:
#1 Why Migratory Birds are Crazy for Coffee
#2 How Birds Keep Our World Safe from Plagues of Insects
#3 Brown-headed Cowbirds: From Buffalo Birds to Modern Scourge
#4 Have Wings, Will Travel: Avian Adaptions for Migration
#5 Western Rivers: Magnets for Migrants
#6 Travel Alert for Migratory Birds: Stopover Sites in Decline
#7 Migrant Land Birds in the Andes
#8 When it Comes to Pesticides, Birds are Sitting Ducks
The Song Bird Coffee page has 6 excellent sketches of migrating birds with information as well as research. Excellent photos of shaded coffee growing environments as compared to unshaded monocultural sites. "In the midst of a shrinking habitat, migratory birds have found sanctuary in the environment of traditional shade grown coffee farms. Biologists studying field conditions in many Central American countries have found that shade coffee farms can support over 150 species of birds. This is a far greater number than is found in other agricultural habitats. In fact, it is exceeded only in the undisturbed tropical rainforest." Check this site out for more information and research links.
For information about bird conservation and International Migratory Bird Day, visit the Partners In Flight page. "All over the country, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, state and local parks, bird clubs nature centers, conservation groups, chambers of commerce, and a myriad of other organizations that plan and take part in celebrations in the beginning of May every year!"
Information and Resources for Students
 These blackline printable masters of tropical and migrating birds were created by Georgina García Herrera as part of a coloring book that ECO-O.K. published for the children of workers on Costa Rica's banana farms. The page has a thumbnail of each bird showing its natural colors and markings and a blackline coloring page so that students can create their own tropical bird book.
Wild Bird Coloring Pages provides 19 blackline bird images which are downloadable for student and classroom use to promote interest in nature and wildbirds.
 The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has published this page of students' drawings from the International School in Panama. These are great examples of students' work.
The Old Rock Barn Site shows a chart of wild birds and the food that they will eat. This site will be helpful if you are planning a backyard feeder!
 The Song Bird Coffee page has 6 excellent sketches of migrating birds including facts and features about the bird including habitat, food, migratration, and nesting. There is also information about how bird habitat can be protected when coffee is shade grown rather than on plantations where the land is cleared to plant coffee.
Student Publishing
Middleboro students publish their work about penguins!
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