An-Animal-a-Month: Migrating Birds
Photo by @Joanie49
In May, I joined local naturalist Dave Sutherland on a hike titled Birds of Costa Rica. Surprisingly, the hike took place in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado! Many birds, who winter in Costa Rica and other Central and South American countries, make epic journies to spend the summer in the foothills and farther north. We saw and heard broad-tailed hummingbirds, yellow-breasted chats, and lazuli buntings, to name a few. Our sighting of a yellow warbler was all the more special to me because I’d just read the following picture book from Gryphon Press, a publisher focused on fostering compassion toward all animals. Read all about this special book below.
Click on the book covers to find more information about each title.
A Warbler’s Journey, written by Scott Weidensaul and painted by Nancy Lane, inspires appreciation, understanding, and conservation of migratory birds.
Brief summary: Fly along with a small but mightily yellow warbler as she migrates from her winter home in the tropical rain forests of Nicaragua to her summer home on the tundra of Canada. The evocative text and illustrations combine to transport the reader into the bird’s world, revealing the challenges of her four-thousand-mile journey across land and sea, revealing her strength and tenacity. Along the way, the warbler is spotted by several children and their families. In these moments of connection and awe, readers see the diverse lives of children in other countries and the important role of rich backyard habitats and protected lands for migratory birds and people. Back matter gives suggestions for how to help birds as they travel between their winter and summer homes. Ages 5 and up. Note the longer, denser text compared to some other picture books for this age.
What I love about this book: I love the sensorial, lyrical descriptions of each place the warbler traverses and calls home. They are deftly written and drew me into the story. There is effective repetition of the concept of home for people and animals, and connections between the lives of the various children and the warbler. I also love the gorgeous, realistic illustrations painted in oils. Look for the lemon-yellow bird on each spread.
Kind of book: Narrative - a close recounting of the bird’s migratory experience interwoven with the experiences of families who spot the bird. Though categorized as fiction by WorldCat and shelved with fiction at my local library, this book is filled with scientifically accurate information and is written by a scientist. (My categorization using Melissa Stewart’s 5 Kinds of Nonfiction.)
Ties to Next Generation Science Standards:
3-LS4-4 (Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the envirnoment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.) The back matter relates how humans have reduced and degraded bird habitat, making migrations even more challenging for the birds. A handul of actions that can help birds are suggested. Students can further research and argue for the merits of each action and decide which one(s) are most likely to be practical and have positive impacts.
Three more titles featuring migratory birds: