Guest Author - Lisa Shea

Would you like to learn more about the birds in your back yard? Take this free course to help you learn their songs, colors and habits!

Just follow through the lesson plan listed below to improve your knowledge about the birds commonly found in back yards across the United States. Take the test at the end to see how well you've learned the material!

Lesson 1: Preparing for Backyard Birds
To watch birds in your back yard, first you need some birds! Here are steps to get you going.

Lesson 2: How to Watch Birds
Get tips about things to look at while birdwatching, and what equipment can help make it easier for you.

Lesson 3: The Big and Colorful
Start learning about birds with a few of the easiest - the robin, blue jay, and cardinal.

Lesson 4: The Smaller Birds
Just about everybody has chickadees, titmice, and wrens hanging around their feeders!

Lesson 5: The Quieter Ones
If you have a quiet spot in your yard, you'll draw in the morning doves, rufous-sided towhees and rose-breasted grosbeaks.

Lesson 6: Finches
Finches LOVE thistle. Here's where you learn how to tell the difference between house finches, purple finches, and goldfinches.

Lesson 7: The Woodpeckers
With some suet and patience you'll be able to see downey woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, and even red-bellied woodpeckers and flickers.

Final Exam
Think you're able to tell these birds apart from each other and know how to attract them to your back yard? Take this exam to find out!

The Sibley Guide to Birds The companion book for this course is an incredible resource for any birder. Gorgeous pictures, great descriptions, and maps too. This is one I refer to quite often.