Peterson Backyard Birds – A Field Guide to Birds of North America

Peterson Backyard Birds is an app encyclopedia of North American birds. Users can swipe through the display screens of icons that represent families of birds, arranged in taxonomic order. Illustrations and information can be accessed by tapping the icon of a family of birds or by using the search bar. Information is included for each type of bird in the family, along with descriptions of size, abundance, habitat, voice, nesting practices, egg description, and much more.

The Cornell University Lab of Ornithology has included its eBird database in the Peterson Backyard Birds app, enabling users to search by state/province and month to identify a bird. For birding activities, users can also record which birds they have seen in a sightings collection.

Instructional Ideas

1. Students can use the camera and video functions of their iPads in a habitat close to school to record local birds. From those pictures, students can be instructed to use the Peterson Birds app to identify which birds they captured on camera. Add another layer to this activity by having students use iMovie to make a brief movie with their footage and images that teaches their classmates about the different birds’ diets, nesting, migration habits, etc.
2. Teachers can instruct students to take pictures of birds using their iPad’s camera. Next, students can use Haiku Deck or Keynote to make a presentation about the bird that they photographed. Students can use the Peterson Birds app to research the bird to include specific information about the bird in their presentation.  
3. Teachers can instruct students to use the Peterson Birds app to identify birds around their school or in a specified area. Students can then work as a class to research the types of habitats and foods that the identified birds like. As a special class project, students can construct bird houses and feeders in order to create a school bird habitat garden.

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