Burgess Bird Book Homeschool Nature Study Cards
Would you like to learn more about the birds in your backyard? I enjoy reading the Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton W. Burgess with my young children to introduce them to the different birds in our area. These nature study bird cards are a wonderful visual to use with this classic bird book, as you learn about the birds of North America.
I first discovered the Burgess Bird Book as a new homeschool mom while I was using the Ambleside Online homeschool curriculum. I was delighted with the charming characters and heart-warming stories. I love the way the bird descriptions are neatly woven into the dialogue.
The kids and I passed many an afternoon reading stories about Peter Rabbit and Jenny Wren frolicking in the Old Orchard as they went to school with Old Mother Nature to learn about their feathered friends.
Each chapter covers two to three birds. The narrative provides details about the birds, including their habitat, appearance, habits, and unique behaviors.
Little children especially love hearing these lovely stories. My preschool daughter asks me again and again, “Read The Burgess Bird Book again!”
Included In The Burgess Bird Book Homeschool Nature Study Cards
These 83 nature study bird cards are a wonderful visual to use as you introduce your kids to North American birds through The Burgess Bird Book. The bird cards correspond sequentially to the characters in the book.
The first half of the cards features birds, with the name of each bird written at the bottom. The second half of the cards shows only the bird without any text. This allows you to use the cards in a variety of ways!
Ideas for Using The Burgess Bird Book Homeschool Nature Study Cards
- Show each card as you read the chapter about that bird.
- Play memory by printing two copies of the cards without text.
- Use with a nature study notebook. Looking at the cards, kids can sketch the bird in their notebooks and list details as they hear them from the story.
- Display them in your home.
- Seek and find. Hide the bird cards (without text) around the house and have the kids find and identify them.
- Guess the bird. Describe the bird, using information the kids have learned from the stories, and have the kids guess which bird.
- Take the cards with you on a hike to help you identify birds.
- Place bird feeders with a variety of quality seeds to attract different kinds of birds.
What birds are included in the Nature Study Cards?
- House Wren
- English Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- White-Throated Sparrow
- Fox Sparrow
- Chipping Sparrow
- Tree Sparrow
- Eastern Bluebird
- American Robin
- Eastern Phoebe
- Kingbird (Eastern)
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Eastern Wood Pewee
- The Woodcock
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Red-Winged Blackbird
- The Northern Flicker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Red-Headed Woodpecker
- Brown-Headed Cowbird
- Baltimore Oriole
- Orchard Oriole
- Bobolink
- Quail (Northern Bobwhite)
- Meadowlark
- Tree Swallow
- Chimney Swift
- Purple Martin
- Barn Swallow
- American Crow
- Bluejay
- Ovenbird
- Red-Tailed hawk
- Ruffed Grouse
- Crow Blackbird (Common Grackle)
- Osprey
- Bald Eagle
- Great Blue Heron
- Belted Kingfisher
- Bank Swallow
- Nighthawk
- Whipporwill
- Painted Redstart
- Yellow Warbler
- Black-And-White Warbler
- Maryland Yellow-Throated Warbler
- yellow-Breasted Chat
- Northern Parula
- Myrtle (Yellow-Rumped) Warbler
- Magnolia Warbler
- Northern Cardinal
- Gray Catbird
- Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
- Scarlet Tanager
- Red-Eyed Vireo
- Warbling Vireo
- Brown Thrasher
- Northern Mockingbird
- Wood Thrush
- Hermit Thrush
- Eastern Towhee
- Indigo Bunting
- Purple Finch
- American Goldfinch
- Mourning Dove
- Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
- Loggerhead Shrike
- Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
- English Starling
- Cedar Waxwing
- Balck-Capped Chickadee
- Canada Goose
- Common Loon
- White-Breasted Nuthatch
- Brown Creeper
- Dark-Eyed Junco
- Snow Bunting
- Horned Lark
- Screech Owl
- Red Crossbill
- Common Redpoll
- Great Horned Owl
**This post contains affiliate links which means I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our family!
Additional Resources
These are the resources I use with the bird cards in our homeschool nature study.
Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton W. Burgess
While you may use the bird cards alone, you don’t want to miss the charming stories in the Burgess Bird Book for Children! The 83 cards correspond sequentially to the birds in each chapter of this book.
- Burgess, Thornton W. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 272 Pages – 04/23/2003 (Publication Date) – Dover Publications (Publisher)
Peterson Field Guide Coloring Book
When I read the Burgess Bird Book chapters to our kids, I like to use the Peterson Field Guide Coloring Book along with our bird study. As I read each chapter of the Burgess Bird Book, our kids color the corresponding bird in the Peterson Field Guide Coloring Book and put the matching sticker beside it. In this digital download PDF, I’ve included two pages that show the page numbers where you can find each of these birds in the coloring book, should you choose to use it.
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Alden, Peter (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 64 Pages – 03/05/2013 (Publication Date) – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Publisher)
Burgess Bird Book YouTube Playlist
The kids and I enjoy watching short clips of birds in their natural habitat or listening to their bird calls after we read the chapter for the day. This playlist has each of the Burgess birds in order.
Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
Thornton Burgess also wrote a similar book for mammals. When we finish our bird study, I move on to this book next!
- Burgess, Thornton W. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 288 Pages – 09/10/2004 (Publication Date) – Dover Publications (Publisher)
Printing the Nature Study Bird Cards
*Please note: This is a PDF download for your computer, tablet, or smartphone. If you want a physical copy, you will have to print it off.
For best results, print on heavy cardstock (80–100 lb) and laminate if desired for durability. There are 22 pages of bird cards to print.
Kindly use for personal, family, or classroom use only. You may print as many copies as needed for your own household or homeschool use.
Nature Study Blog Post
If you would like simple step-by-step instructions on how to keep a simple nature study notebook, you can look at how we put our nature notebooks together in the blog post below.
How to Keep a Simple Nature Study Notebook
Learning about the birds in the natural world has been an enjoyable pastime for our whole family. Observing the intricate details and beauty of each bird, we cannot help but see the handiwork of God, the great Designer, whose “ways are higher than our ways and whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts.”
“Praise the name of the LORD for he commanded and they were created… beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds!” (Psalm 148)
Happy birding!
