Learn to Birdwatch with Library's New Kit

As published in the Red Rock News

Let's go birdwatching! Sedona Public Library has a new Birdwatching Kit available for checkout! It has everything you need to engage children in learning about the birds of North America. We’re excited about this new addition to our Youth Services collection, and we can’t wait for you to stop by and take one home!
 
What’s in the Birdwatching Kit, you ask? Everything but the birds! First, it includes four books, both fiction and nonfiction, about birds! For example, you can use Jennifer Ward’s I Love Birds!: 52 Ways to Wonder, Wander, and Explore Birds with Kids to guide you and even help you create a yard map to document your landscape, the birds, and the wildlife that frequently visit!  
 
Second, there’s all kinds of equipment to help you explore and go birding! The kit includes both adult and children’s binoculars, as well as a bird call identifier to help you listen and learn the songs of a blue jay, a Steller’s jay, and many more! You’ll have fun talking to your birds! Which ones will you call? 
 
Third, you’ll need maps, and we’ve got those, too! In the Birdwatching Kit, you’ll find the Verde River Valley Birding Trail Map and the Birds of Arizona Field Guide. Take a walk at Red Rock State Park and you might spot a common black hawk or a rufous hummingbird. 
 
Everyone’s excited about the kit and our growing resources! We collected resources from our community, and library patrons have contributed the Verde River Valley Birding Trail Map and the Dead Horse Ranch State Park & Verde River Greenway Checklist of Birds in the Park and Vicinity to our Birdwatching Kit! It’s a joy to collaborate with bird lovers and experts, and the community. We welcome any resources as we continue to grow our offerings!
 
Finally, what would a Birdwatching Kit be without games? Our kit includes bird versions of popular games such as Bird Bingo, where you’ll learn about 64 species of birds from around the world. Would you be able to recognize the puffin or the kookaburra? You can also play Audubon Bird Spotting-Opoly and collect bird species, eggs, and nests to win!
 
Our Birdwatching Kit is perfect for any parent, guardian, grandparent, or teacher looking for new educational and fun activities for children! It’s great for learning pods, classrooms, after-school programs, homeschoolers, or anyone who is interested in learning about our fine-feathered friends. The Birdwatching Kit is best suited for elementary school-aged children and older, but children of all ages and even adults will love it, too!
 
Sedona Public Library’s Birdwatching Kit is one of many activities in our STEAM programming at Youth Services. Any of our kits can be checked out for up to three weeks. To learn more about our kits and other STEAM programming, please visit sedonalibrary.org or call Youth Services at (928) 282-7714 x 119.
 
STEAM kits and STEAM programming are supported by the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Sedona Public Library
​Column for February 12, 2021
Written by Viviane Kraus, Youth Services Librarian 

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