Show students a picture of a human baby. Ask, “Can babies take care of themselves?
Ask them what parents need to do to help keep the baby safe and healthy.
Tell students baby birds also need help to stay safe and healthy.
Explore:
Show students these video clips of birds taking care of their babies. Ask students to look for ways that the parent birds are keeping the baby birds healthy and safe.
*Show 4 short clips of parents caring for babies.
Parent feeding baby birds:
Parent building nest for baby birds:
Parent keeping baby bird warm/dry:
Parent protecting eggs/babies from predators:
Briefly discuss student observations.
What did you observe the parent bird doing to keep the babies safe and healthy?
Explain:
Tell students that parent birds do many things to help take care of their babies and help them survive. Survive means to keep living. Parent birds do many things to help their babies keep living.
Have students complete the survive vocabulary frame during this lesson.
Present the read-aloud on parent birds for more specific information on how parent birds help their young survive.
Read Aloud: Parental Care in Birds
When it comes to taking care of babies, it’s not just limited to humans. Animals care for their offspring, just the way your parents do for you. Likewise, birds also care for their young ones. The only difference is that they lay eggs instead of giving birth like mammals.
Let’s understand the steps involved in the parental care of birds.
Making nests: Whether it’s hummingbirds or ostriches, birds of all types make nests to protect their young ones. It can be shaped like cups, domes, burrows and mounds.However, some birds do not make nests. Instead, they lay their eggs on a bare cliff. The common bird guillemot is an example of such kind. Emperor penguins do not make nests either. Instead, they just sit on the eggs to keep them warm.
What are some other ways that bird parents adapt to keep their babies safe? Well, most species build their nests in areas that are hidden from the eyes of predators. Large birds, or those birds that make a nest in groups, build it in open as they are stronger and hence more capable of defending their young ones.
Laying: Some birds lay one egg a day and it takes several days to complete a brood. What is brooding? Well, to brood eggs simply means to sit on the eggs in order to provide the warmth that is necessary for hatching. Some eggs are laid more quickly, but they may not be able to hatch unless they are developed properly.
Incubation Period: The time from the laying of the last egg to the time of the first hatching is called the incubation period. After the eggs have been laid in the nest, bird parents need to incubate the eggs.
Some birds have very short brood periods and their eggs might hatch in a couple of days. But other eggs might need brooding for several weeks before they are mature enough to hatch properly. The incubation period depends on the climate, overall temperature, egg health, and many other factors.
Either one or both the parents brood the eggs during the incubation period. When both the parents brood the eggs, one parent usually gathers food while the other parent broods. In fact, some birds take turns to incubate the eggs and share parental chores equally.
There are also birds like Cuckoo, who showcase a peculiar behavior known as brood parasitism. This happens when a bird leaves her eggs’ in another bird’s nest. The host bird often accepts and protects the parasite bird’s eggs.
Hatching: Depending on the incubation period, the eggs may hatch early or really late. Incubation begins right after the first egg is laid. The eggs hatch after some time. The bird parents start the preparation for welcoming the younger siblings.
Feeding: Just like human babies need special food, baby birds also need special food to get the proper nutrition for a healthy growth. The bird parents look for insects, fish, or meat to feed protein to their babies.
Some birds, such as flamingos and doves, produce crop milk to feed their young ones, while others like shorebirds, teach their babies to search for food at a very young age.
Maturing: Since the nests are usually tiny and compact, there isn't enough space for the baby birds to stretch and strengthen their wings. Therefore, bird parents have to get their babies out of the nest before they are mature in order to teach them necessary survival skills.The baby birds need to learn about their surroundings, how to tackle predators, as well as practice flying for their survival. However, some bird parents stay nearby to take care of the offspring even after they’ve grown a bit.
Conclusion
Unlike your humans, many bird parents are not able to protect their babies fully. They have to protect themselves from danger too and if the situation demands they leave their nests and babies.
In such cases, you can help the birds by making birdhouses or preventing cats and dogs too close to the nests or attacking the birds. By doing so, you can ensure that more birds can raise their families safely.
Evaluate:
Pass out student journals. Have each student draw and write about one or two ways parent birds care for their young. Lesson 7 Writing Response
If needed, provide a sentence frame: “Birds help their babies survive by _______”. Lesson 7 Sentence Frames
As students work, ask them about their drawings and writing. Clarify and reteach as needed.
Elaborate: Special Names for Baby Birds
Tell students that most baby birds are called “chicks” but that some kinds of birds have special names for their babies. Read the Early Reader Level 1 “Bird Babies” with the students and review the names of the baby birds: owlet (owl), eaglet (eagle), duck (duckling), cygnet (swan), gosling (goose).Lesson 7 Easy Reader First Grade print 2 sided
Language Arts Extension:
Practice reading student texts and discuss content.
Early Reader Level K: The Owlet Lesson 7 Easy Reader Kindergarten print 2 sided
Early Reader Level 1: Bird Babies (used in lesson)
Fluency Practice Level 2: The Eaglets
