Birds in Schools is an environmental education project designed by BirdLife Australia and its Urban Birds Program. It teaches students to identify and monitor birds, explore their habitats and ultimately take action for local birdlife.
Children are more disconnected from nature than ever before. With birds as a focus, Birds in Schools plays a crucial role in connecting young people with nature, empowering them to protect birds, and nature, into the future.
Urban birds face many threats, including habitat loss, altered access to resources and exposure to predators. Through Birds in Schools, schools and students can take action to assist their local bird populations.
The Birds in Schools project provides teachers and students with the knowledge and tools to protect birds.
As part of Birds in Schools, students participate in:
Action plans may include improving local habitats by planting native plants, installing nest boxes or bird baths and educating the local community on how to protect our urban birds.
Students are able to get outside and connect with nature. As a side benefit, mounting scientific evidence shows that birdwatching improves children’s ability to focus.
Available online through BirdLife Australia’s e-learning platform, Birds in Schools provides lesson plans and resources to enable teachers across Australia to deliver education and action for birds.
As a result, teachers and students have enjoyed:
Some schools have also had BirdLife Australia volunteers visit them to assist with lessons and bird surveys. As part of the Birds in Schools program, schools will use Birdata– BirdLife Australia’s database- as a platform to participate in citizen science.
Log in to MyBirdLife or create a My BirdLife account to register for this course.
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To save birds, we need reliable data. Birdata is Australia's online national bird monitoring platform. Compiled by professional researchers and citizen scientists, Birdata is Australia's longest running digital database for bird sightings with more than 30 million records (and counting).
