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Informal Science

Bird Cams- Up and Running

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Patricia Rourke Patricia Rourke 45925 Points

Bird cams give students opportunities to track bird behavior while on the nest, brooding, and feeding young. Owl, Eagle, and other raptor cams abound. Here is a notice about one up and running again. Introducing a New Owl Cam from Cornell... Our newest Cornell Lab Bird Cam just went live—Great Horned Owls from Savannah, Georgia (thanks to our partners at Skidaway Audubon). This cam was initially planned to broadcast from an established Bald Eagle nest nearly 80 feet above the coastal Georgia salt marshes. But last month a pair of Great Horned Owls moved into the nest instead. So, we'll go with the owls. Right now the female is incubating two eggs, which should hatch around the end of January. Don't miss your chance to get to know these secretive denizens of the darkness as they raise owlets in the coming weeks. Great Horned Owls on cornell's Bird Cam http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/46/Great_Horned_Owls/?utm_source=Cornell+Lab+eNews&utm_campaign=7c83a8f034-Cornell_Lab_eNews_2015_01_21&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47588b5758-7c83a8f034-302885589 If you search through past threads on several forums, look for times around Feb and March of 2014, you will find other references and sites for other bird cams. I'll share others in the future.....please share, too:) ~patty
Pamela Dupre Pam Dupre 92369 Points

This is a timely topic and should be brought back up on the discussion posts. I love animal cams and raptors are especially intriguing.
Julie Bentley Julie Bentley 4010 Points

Thanks for this insightful, great idea Patricia As a preservice teacher I am constantly on the look out for hands on, extensive activities like the bird cam for my future students and students that I currently work with tutoring or field experience. I like the idea of an animal cam/bird cam. It's so unpredictable and something new will always occur, which is so exciting! I have visited a classroom before that has a classroom pet and students are always so intrigued and excited to see what the animal is doing. Thanks for the link to the Great Horned Owl camera. With technology nowadays, there are so many resources out on the web where cameras are set up everywhere to view so many different animals. Teachers could pull this up in the classroom on a projection screen and allow students to view, discuss, predict and write about the animal. So many activities could be used for students with animal cams, thanks for this great idea! I will add it to my list of ideas for my future students! Thank you again Julie

Julia Shepard Julia Shepard 2628 Points

Hello Patricia,

This is a great idea for a life science lesson! I have seen bird cams set up before in back yard feeders as well which I think would be especially interesting if you could connect the lesson to birds that are native in your area. This could also tie into invasive species such as the European Starling and how invasive species impact the ecosystem. Migration can be introduced with bird feeder cams by showing how the time of year can impact what kind of wildlife we see. I love that bird cams allow students to see animals in their natural habitat and not in cages and it is truly spectacular to see the eggs hatch and the chicks grow on nest cams. Thanks for sharing!
Erik Lucas Erik Lucas 705 Points

Absolutely wonderful! Espescially for distance learning.
Zach Millan Zach Millan 639 Points

Very fascinating! What kind of lessons or activities are you guys trying that revolve around these bird cameras? We have a breeding pair of hawks at our school that we have used in our discussions on ecosystems and food webs, however I think the cameras would make for an interesting introduction to embryonic development for classification purposes.
Lily Albertson Lily Albertson 530 Points

This is a great way to get students to see behaviors they probably have never seen before. This is a wonderful resource that can be used for distance learning or when we can get back in the classroom. It can also help students learn about native species if there is a bird cam in their area.
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