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My 7-year-old's face went still, as the soft breast of a chickadee was pressed against his ear. The immobilized bird blinked, its head poking out between the index and ring finger of a volunteer. Just moments before, the tiny creature had received a metal leg band. Now, several children were getting a chance to hear its heart beat.
"It feels ... feathery," said my son, with a look of wonder.
Few of us get a change to see wild birds closer than a backyard feeder. That's why I took my boys to Eastman Nature Center in Anoka County, where every other month a volunteer bands birds and allows children to release them. With migrations in full swing and courting in every meadow and tree, what better way to enjoy nature in springtime?
As we drove into the parking lot we heard a woodpecker. It's distinctive rapid-fire tap echoed throughout the woods. Inside the center, we saw what had been making all that racket.
Volunteer Ron Refsnider, who works weekdays as a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was sitting at a table with a downy woodpecker in his hands. (Don't try this at home; by the way, Refsnider has a federal banding permit.)
Several cloth drawstring bags swung from a clothesline behind him, jerking with the movements of birds that had just been trapped at the center's birdfeeders.
The downy is the smallest and most common woodpecker in Minnesota.
"We know it's a downy woodpecker because, if it were a hairy woodpecker, it would be a bit
He spread the bird's black wings under a bright table lamp to show off a distinctive series of nine short feathers and then estimated its age and weighed it.
"How can you tell if they're male or female?" asked Alexandra Wilson, third-grader from Minneapolis who was visiting the center with her Girl Scout troop.
"For woodpeckers, it's easy," Refsnider said.
Then, he reached into the bird's beak and pulled out its tongue. Everyone gasped. It looked like a long sliver of apricot fruit leather. Refsnider explained it's barbed on the end so woodpeckers can spear insects and larvae.
Finally, Refsnider put on the band. This part of the demonstration most interested my 4-year-old budding engineer, who kept peering into Refsnider's equipment case.
The bands are numbered to allow researchers to identify a particular bird if it is trapped again or found dead. In this way, scientists can learn more about birds' habits and ranges. Refsnider opened a small band with a plierslike tool and then clamped it shut around the bird's leg.
"It's so light that it doesn't bother the bird," he said. "It's like a person who wears a watch for the first time. It might bother them for 45 minutes, and then they forget about it."
On our visit in March, Refsnider banded 15 birds, mostly downy woodpeckers and black-capped chickadees, along with one white-breasted nuthatch. It was too early in the season for many spring migratory birds.
The highlight of the morning was setting the birds free. Children and adults were shown how to grasp the bird in their hand and then set it gently on another person's outstretched palm.
Most birds flew away immediately. But one little chickadee took a while to recognize freedom. It sat for what seemed to be a full minute, just looking around as the small cluster of kids and grown-ups held their breath.
Then, in a blur of gray feathers - it was gone.
Maja Beckstrom can be reached at mbeckstrom@pioneerpress. com or 651-228-5295.
BIRDWATCHING RESOURCES
Here are several resources to get your family started:
Birding in Ramsey County: (www.co.ramsey.mn.us/parks/ NaturalResources/BirdingIn RamseyCounty.htm) includes park maps and information on what birds can be found there. Also a checklist of 242 different bird species found in the county.
Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (http://moumn.org) has a photo gallery of Minnesota birds, checklists, occurrence maps, information on conservation and more. Also information on a free education program for school groups and other children's groups.
Audubon Society (www.audubon.org/chapter/ mn) has links to regional Minnesota Audubon chapters that organize educational programs and bird-watching field trips welcoming beginners.
Falcon Cam (http://134.156.98.1/falconcam) posts live footage of a peregrine falcon nest atop Minnesota Power's Boswell Energy Center near Grand Rapids, Minn. There are four eggs in the nest now!
"Birds of Minnesota: A Field Guide by Stan Tekiela" is a helpful beginner's book that organizes birds by color, unlike most guides that organize birds by taxonomy.
BIRDING EVENTS FOR FAMILIES
Local parks and nature centers offer many bird programs throughout the spring for families. (Call to find out if a particular event is suitable for very young children.)
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Woodcock Sky Dance
When: Begins at dusk (around 8 p.m.) and lasts about an hour on Tuesday, Thursday, April 28, May 1 and May 3
Where: Black Dog Nature Preserve (Cliff Fen Park), Burnsville
For more information: For reservations and specific times, call 952-858-0710; for general information, call 952-854-5900 or visit www.fws.gov/midwest/minnesotavalley/.
Cost: Free
Event: Catch the American woodcock's mating dance when males court females with throaty calls and aerial spirals. No cameras or flashlights. Wear dark, quiet clothing to avoid distracting the birds. Children welcome if they can stay relatively quiet.
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Bird Watching for Beginners
When: 1 p.m. April 28
Where: Fort Snelling State Park, 101 Snelling Lake Road, St. Paul
For more information: 612-725-2389 or 612-725-2724, www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_ parks/fort_snelling
Cost: Free
Event: All-ages introduction to bird-watching. Walk the trails with a naturalist and learn basic techniques of bird identification. Binoculars and bird guides available.
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Ramsey County Bird Festival
When: May 3 to 6
Where: Ramsey County Parks
For more information: 651-748-2500, www.co. ramsey.mn.us/parks/natural resources/urbanbirdfestival.htm
Cost: Free unless noted
Event: Four days of hikes, displays and demonstrations. Includes an evening woodcock hike, observations of eagles, daylong events at Snail Lake Regional Park and a canoe expedition on Otter Lake ($5 canoe rental or bring your own; register at 651-407-5350). Check the Web site for schedule.
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International Migratory Bird Day
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 12
Where: Como Zoo and Conservatory, St. Paul
For more information: 651-487-8201 or 651-487-8200, www.comozooconservatory.org
Cost: Free
Event: Learn about wild birds, how to conserve habitat and make back yards bird-friendly. Raptor visits, story times and beginner bird walks through Como Park with Audubon Society volunteers.
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Trailside Club: Early Birds
When: 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. May 19
Where: Lee and Rose Warner Nature Center, 15375 Norell Ave. N., Marine on St. Croix
For more information: 651-433-2427, www.smm.org/ warnernaturecenter
Cost: $12 per family
Event: Presentation and activities related to Minnesota birds, puppet show and bird-banding demonstration. (Register by May 16.)
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Birding by Boat
When: 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. May 26
Where: Lee and Rose Warner Nature Center, 15375 Norell Ave. N., Marine on St. Croix
For more information: 651-433-2427; www.smm.org/ warnernaturecenter
Cost: $12 per person
Event: Join naturalist on solar-powered pontoon boat to search for lake and shore birds. Birders of all levels welcome. Ages 13 and older. Continental breakfast included. (Register by May 23.)
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Raptors in the Yard
When: 3 to 4 p.m. April 29 and May 13, 10 to 11 a.m. May 28
Where: Richardson Nature Center at Hyland Lake Park Reserve, 8737 E. Bush Lake Road, Bloomington
For more information: 763-694-7676; www.three riversparkdistrict.org/programs
Cost: Free
Event: Learn about birds of prey and see them up close, including a barred owl, American kestrel and red-tailed hawk.
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Birding on the Mississippi River
When: 1 to 2:30 p.m. May 28
Where: Kroening Interpretive Center in North Mississippi Regional Park, 4900 Mississippi Court, Brooklyn Center
For more information: 763-694-7693; www.threeriversparkdistrict.org/programs
Cost: $5 per person
Event: Wildlife author and photographer Stan Tekiela leads bird hike along Mississippi River. Learn birding tricks and how to choose a field guide. Binoculars provided.
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Welcome Back Birds
When: 1 to 4 p.m. May 20
Where: Eastman Nature Center at Elm Creek Park Reserve, Dayton
For more information: 763-694-7700; www.threeriversparkdistrict.org/programs
Cost: Free
Event: Learn about birds returning to your backyard feeders. All ages can practice identifying them, learning about their nests and getting tips on how to attract them.
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Birding Summer Camp
When: 9 a.m. to noon, June 18 to 22
Where: Historic Streetcar Station, Como Park
For more information: 651-325-2672; www.commed.spps.org
Cost: $55
Event: St. Paul Community Education offers weeklong birding class for kids in second through fifth grade. Audubon Society volunteers take kids on daily bird walks, teach about birds, tell stories, build bird feeder and work on mini-research project.
FAMILY OUTINGS: THE SCOOP
What: Watch a naturalist band wild birds
Where: Eastman Nature Center at Elm Creek Reserve in Dayton, Minn.
Information: 763-694-7700 or www.three riversparkdistrict.org
When: Next bird banding is 9 a.m. to noon May 12
Cost: Free
Crowd pleaser: Releasing a bird
Tip: Volunteer Ron Refsnider also bands birds monthly at Lowry Nature Center in the Carver Park Reserve, 7025 Victoria Drive, Victoria, Minn. He'll be there today from 8 a.m. to noon. Call 763-694-7650.
