Introducing children and beginners to birds
India is lucky to have an incredibly rich birdlife, with 13% of the world’s species of birds, thanks to an amazing diversity of habitats found in the subcontinent. Birds are an excellent way for children to connect with and build an understanding of nature. At Early Bird, we work towards facilitating this by creating high-quality resources, training people to become bird educators and doing outreach.
Content for educators, kids and beginner birdwatchers
While birdwatching and bird photography as popular hobbies have grown rapidly, relatively little material exists for children to learn about and get excited by birdwatching. We have developed a variety of educational materials on birds which can be used in the field, at home or in the classroom.
Our print materials include posters on common birds around us, a set of flash cards on common birds of India featuring 40 species, and foldable pocket guides on familiar birds of different regions of the country. These are available in various Indian languages. You can buy/download them here: https://www.instamojo.com/NCF/
We have also developed instructional videos (for facilitators, teachers, parents and children) on effective use of the flashcards as learning aids. The videos can be viewed at http://bit.ly/flashcard-games.
Our website has several freely downloadable bird activities and games for beginners. Check them out here.
Our interactive posters (in eight Indian languages!) displaying common birds around us with their calls and descriptions can be accessed on our website. View them here.
Training workshops for bird educators
In an attempt to leverage the vast number of amateur birdwatchers in the country, we also work to network enthusiasts who are interested in being bird and nature educators.
We have conducted more than 15 half-day workshops, called “How to be a Birding Buddy” which are meant for educators, parents and individuals working with children. In these workshops, we provide the skills needed for taking birds to children, as well as the material (print and digital) required for it. We have also conducted several workshops specifically for school teachers, some of them in collaboration with other organisations like Azim Premji Foundation, Agastya Foundation and Aakanksha Foundation.
Outreach
In order to reach our audience directly, we have conducted several webinars on various bird-related topics, two online quizzes for young birders, and talks by scientists and bird enthusiasts. These webinars were conducted not only in English but also Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.
We are also working towards creating a Young Birders’ Network, through which we plan to help enthusiastic young birdwatchers develop and further their passion of understanding birds.
Watch “How to Sketch a Bird”
Watch “Balcony Birding: a short introduction to watching birds from home”
Watch all webinars by Early Bird: https://bit.ly/early-bird-ncf