Troubleshooting:

Get your feeders out early!  By the time school starts in August-September, most birds have finished breeding and are beginning to prepare for winter.  This is the ideal time to get those feeders up and start attracting your avian friends!

I have no birds!  Try moving your feeders to another location.  Remember that areas with some surrounding vegetation and little disturbance are more likely to attract birds.  Proximity to windows with very active students can be a problem.  Remember to give it time!  It can take birds over a month to find your feeders.  If you have tried a few locations without success, consider scouting around your school for places where birds do congregate and moving your feeders there.  

Help!  My feeders are overrun with redpolls!  Although it is interesting to observe all of the bird species visiting your feeders (and species diversity may even be the topic you choose to investigate), you may occasionally find your feeders overrun with large flocks of finches, specifically redpolls.  A simple solution is to provide a diversity of feeders and food.  Most redpolls prefer a platform feeder with sunflower chips or hearts.  Providing them with their favorite food and feeder can keep them around, while opening up your other feeders for other bird species (like chickadees).  Although chickadees are some of the most common feeder visitors, if you don’t have chickadees visiting your feeder, all is not lost!  You can adapt the project to investigate whatever species you do have visiting.  However, if you find your feeding station is frequented by other animals such as house cats or moose, you can take your feeders down for a few days and the unwanted visitors will likely move on.  Remember to take your feeders down when bears are active in your area.   

Keep your feeders clean and full of seed!  If you do not keep your feeders full, or if you let them get buried in snow, the birds will move on to another area.  It is important to clean your feeders about once a month with a 10% bleach solution.  If it is possible to keep your feeders full and active during weekends and school vacations, you will likely have a more reliable and consistent bird population to work with.  However, if you choose to stop the project and no longer maintain your feeding station, the birds will be okay.  They will simply move on to another area.   

Create a bird resource center in your classroom!  To make your bird study more comprehensive it helps to have additional resources available to your students (books, posters, etc.)  Please see “Curriculum Resources” below.  Other helpful materials to have in your resource center are binoculars and field guides. 

When you begin collecting data, it is important to keep all data sheets together IN ONE LOCATION!  Your bird resource center or another common area in your classroom is a good place to keep a binder with both blank and full data sheets.