Field Notes: Home birding

Bird watching can be a relaxing way to get families together, wherever you live. Try these tips from Jenny and Emily in our Award team

Tune into what's around

Try setting a bit of time aside each day to just sit, watch and be present. See how many different birds you can spot or try focussing on one particular species each day; notice how they reveal their characters as you see them going about their business, looking for food, calling to each other and even squabbling.

If you would like to identify and find out more about the birds that you observe, the RSPB’s Bird Identifying tool is a great place to start or children might enjoy making and using this bird ID dial.

Your morning tea or coffee break is a perfect time to watch the birds. The RSPB are hosting a #BreakfastBirdwatch between 8am and 9am every weekday where you can share your photographs with an online community of interested nature lovers. If you would like to turn your observations into useful scientific study data, upload your sightings to a database such as iRecord.

Create a bird friendly space

Balconies or backyards: Try planting sunflowers or even making a bird food kebab and don’t forget about water, you could make a DIY birdbath.

Gardens: Consider disturbing a patch of soil to help birds find worms and insects or leaving seed heads on old plants to attract finches. Avoid trimming back shrubs, hedges and ivy too much as birds love to hide and nest in them. If you’re planning on planting new plants, incorporate more shrubs with berries, or wildflowers that attract insects; more insects will also mean more birds.

Get building!

Once you have a haven of bird activity, you will be ready for some family-friendly fun activities. Challenge yourself to build your own birds nest. Check it's strong enough to hold ‘eggs’ made of plasticine or stone. Can it survive a night exposed to the elements? Next, scavenge around the house for materials to build your own bird hide, for the ultimate viewing experience. At this time of year you might spot birds collecting natural materials for nest building.

Bringing the outside in

If you are unable to spot any birds from your current location, why not improve your identification skills by watching them on the Wildlife Trust’s webcams, or listening to their songs through the RSPB’s Birdsong radio? Can you tune into the different sounds? It’s a bit like picking out the different instruments in a band or orchestra.

If you’re looking for a fun-fuelled afternoon indoors, why not hold your very own battle of the beaks competition, using a variety of household objects mimicking birds’ use of their beaks and bills.

• Find out more about spring visitors to your feeder with (Isaac's charm of finches.)