The Bow Valley Bird Bonanza!
Every student at Elizabeth Rummel School
is challenged to identify at least five
different bird species between May 26 and
3 June!
Check out our website for other resources
to help you learn about birds… And read
on for a game to help you learn about
these birds!
Here’s how this game works:
The next pages list birds that you might
see around where you live…
Name that bird!
Black-capped chickadee
Mésange a tête noir
Was that easy?
This next birds
colour is in its
name…
Blue Jay
Geai Bleu
How about this one?
Rufous hummingbird
Colibri roux
Hint: this
bird
‘swallows’
lots of
mosquitos
…
Tree swallow
Hirondelle bicolore
• Perhaps this is a little harder. Have you
ever had one of these wake you up in
the morning?
Black-billed magpie
Pie bavarde
Come to the school library
to see some huge pictures
of these birds!
Next, lets take a look at some
birds you might see in the
schoolyard - if you remember
to keep your eyes to the sky!
This first bird is so hardy, it
can live here all winter long..
That thick bill! Those rough neck feathers!
It must be a…
Common raven
Grand corbeau
… the next bird isn’t
exactly a ‘Sea’ gull.
Check out its bill!
Ring-billed gull
Goéland à bec cerclé
Next bird is smaller than a
raven, and just says
‘Caw…’
Crow
Corneille d’Amérique
Imagine you were walking
down by the Bow River. What
do you think you would see
first?
The name of this bird
includes the colour of its
eye. Can you tell which
one is the female (hint:
females have to hide from
predators when they sit on
nests).
Common goldeneye duck
Garrot à oeil d’or
the female duck is more
camoflaged, isn’t it?
This next bird lives here all
winter long, and dips its body
up and down to help see how
far away things are!
American dipper
Cincle d’Amérique
You can sometimes see
this next bird in Canmore’s
hockey rink…
Bald Eagle (aka ‘Eddie’)
Pygargue à tête blanche
This next bird is a GOOSE.
And it lives in CANADA.
(Hope you don’t need another
hint…)
Canada goose
Bernache du Canada
(their babies look a bit like
tennis balls, don’t you
think?)
Next bird is harder…
Spotted sandpiper
Chevalier branlequeu
Next bird is a cool hawk
that likes to eat fish, and
builds big nests…
Osprey
Balbuzard
Policemans Creek is a good
place to go bird-watching.
To get there you have to
walk right past the ‘Drake’
Inn… (hint, hint!)
Mallard duck
Canard colvert
The drake is the male duck - it is
more brightly coloured…
This next bird flits about tree
branches and eats the insects it
finds there. Its song is a ‘warble…’
Yellow-rumped warbler
Paruline à croupion
jaune
Next up: a bird that lays
its eggs in other birds
nests. The baby birds are
raised by someone else!
Brown-headed cowbird
Vacher à tête brun
Imagine, now, that you
are walking in the forest…
hey, what is that tapping
sound?
Hairy
woodpecker
Pic
chevelu
If you put sunflower seeds in
your birdfeeder (just during
the winter, please!), you’ll see
lots of this next bird…
Red-breasted nuthatch
Sittelle à poitrine rousse
Next: a sparrow that might
sing in your backyard. The
song sounds something like
‘Camptown racetrack five
miles long…’
White-crowned sparrow
Bruant à couronne
blanche
(by the way, sparrows can
crack open seeds. Go
back and check out this
bird’s strong bill!)
Here’s a neat bird that you
can see on the Rundle Forbay
or on any large lake. Its call
makes it sound like a lunatic!
Common Loon
Huart â collier
When loon babies are
young, they can get very
tired and cold. That is
why they sometimes get a
piggyback from the Mum
or Dad!
This next bird can fly silently,
and see its prey on even the
darkest night. It is one of
nature’s best hunters…
Great Horned
Owl
Grand Duc
d’Amérique
(those horns
are actually
feathers - can
you tell?)
Last but not least: thousands
of these birds fly over
Canmore’s mountains every
year during migration. They
are so cool, we even have a
festival to celebrate them!
Golden eagle
Aigle royal
If you want to see those
golden neck feathers up
close - check out the eagle
that we might have in the
school library.
Happy Birding!