The Young Birder's Guide: for Kids and Grown-Ups
Welcome, Young Birders!
You don't need anything fancy to start experiencing birds. Just step outside, look up, and listen. There's probably a bird nearby right now.
Birds are everywhere: in your backyard, at the park, even in a parking lot. The more you look, the more you'll notice. Some are loud and easy to spot. Some are tiny and like to hide. All of them are worth a closer look.
Easy Ways to Start Experiencing Birds
Listen first. Close your eyes for 30 seconds outside. How many different bird sounds can you count?
Watch the sky. Birds are most active in the early morning. Look for them flying, landing, or hopping around on the ground.
Start a list. Keep a notebook of every bird you spot, even if you don't know its name yet. You can always look it up later.
Try an app. Merlin Bird ID is a free app that helps you identify birds by sound or photo. Just point your phone or hold it up to listen, and it'll help you figure out what you're seeing or hearing.
Come to a walk. Our walks are free, easy-paced, and perfect for kids. We bring extra binoculars, and nobody expects you to know anything yet.
Organize. You don't have to wait for a grown-up to start something. Some of the country's best-known youth birding clubs began with just a handful of kids who decided to make it official, give it a name, and start planning their own field trips.
Bring the idea to your school, your scout troop, or your friend group. Then reach out to Conejo Valley Audubon—we're happy to help connect you with mentors, loan out binoculars, or send someone along on your first outing.
Practice Good “Bird Manners”
- Use a quiet voice. Loud talking and sudden noises will scare birds off before you get a good look. A whisper works just as well.
- Move slowly. Fast movement reads as a threat to birds. Walking calmly, and stopping to look rather than chasing after something, gets you a much better view.
- Watch from a distance. If a bird is nervous, backing away and using binoculars is always better than getting closer. Getting too close to a nest can cause parents to abandon it.
- Leave nests, eggs, and baby birds alone. Even if a baby bird looks like it's been left behind, it's usually not. See our Frequently Asked Questions for what to do if you find one.
- Stay on the trail. Wandering off-path can trample nests hidden in low brush or ground cover that are easy to miss.
- Keep dogs leashed. Even a friendly, well-behaved dog is a predator to a bird, and ground-nesting species are especially vulnerable.
- Don't feed wild birds by hand or leave food on the trail. It's different from a backyard feeder. Bread and human food scraps aren't good for them, and it teaches wild birds to approach people, which isn't safe for the bird long-term.
For Parents & Adults
A few ways to make experiencing birds easy and fun for the kids in your life:
- No gear required. Binoculars are nice to have, but eyes and ears are enough to start. If you want to try a pair, we bring loaners to every walk.
- Let curiosity lead. Kids don't need to know bird names to enjoy watching them. Following whatever catches their attention is plenty.
- Bring the stroller. Our Beginner and Family Bird Walks happen on flat, easy paths at a relaxed pace.
- Keep it short. Ten unhurried minutes outside is a great first birding trip. You can always stay longer if everyone's having fun.
- Make it a game. Turn a walk into a scavenger hunt: find a bird that's red, a bird bigger than your hand, a bird eating something, a bird you've never seen before. A little bit of competition (even with themselves) keeps kids looking longer than a plain walk would.
- Skip the playback. Apps that play recorded bird calls to lure birds closer can stress birds out and pull them away from feeding or nesting, especially with repeated use. It's a good rule for grownups to model, even if it's not something you need to explain to a young birder yet.
Build a Backyard Birdhouse
A birdhouse is one of the best ways to bring birds closer to home, and it's a project the whole family can build together.
You'll need:
- Untreated wood (like cedar or pine)
- Wood glue, nails or screws
- Sandpaper
- A measuring tape, pencil, and saw (ask an adult for help with cutting)
The basic steps:
- Decide which birds you'd like to attract, as this affects the size of the entrance hole.
- For small backyard birds common here in the Conejo Valley, like Oak Titmice, Bewick’s Wrens, and White-breasted Nuthatch, a hole between 1 1/8" and 1 1/4" is ideal.
- Western Bluebirds, another local cavity nester, need a slightly bigger hole, right around 1 1/2".
- Keeping the hole under 1 1/2" also helps keep out European Starlings. They're not native to North America, and they're aggressive competitors that will take over a box meant for smaller birds, sometimes even evicting eggs or chicks already inside.
- Measure and cut a front, back, two sides, a roof, and a floor.
- Glue and secure the pieces together, leaving small gaps near the roof for airflow.
- Sand the edges smooth, then paint or stain the outside only (skip the inside, since strong smells can bother birds).
- Mount it on a tree trunk or post, high enough to be safe from pets, facing away from strong wind and afternoon sun.
Once it's up, watch and wait. It might take a little while for a bird to move in, so be patient!
Want to Learn More?
Visit our Getting Started page, or come say hello at our next event.