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There’s no doubt about it, bird skulls are cool!
Exploring bird skulls is a fantastic way to learn about the amazing adaptations birds have evolved.
Get started with our online video lesson:
Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MadisonAudubon/videos/220099219258896/
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1SoZZyrk7js
These games, activities, and art projects will keep your kids busy and their brains thinking.
Skulls! We love ‘em. Bald Eagle is in back, American robin is front left, then ruby-throated hummingbird, and Northern cardinal.
All of these activities use the bird & skull images in the document below. First, print this document out single-sided. Cut the pages in half so that you have two pieces: one with the bird image on it, the other with the skull. Each page is labeled with the bird species. You can either leave the name on the images or cut them off. If you forget what a bird is, use the document as a reference.
Matching Game
Cardinals have bright orange beaks that are almost as big as the rest of their skull. Those powerful beaks crack a lotta seeds.
Shuffle the images and lay them all face up on the floor or table. Help kids to match the bird with its skull! Players may work together to match them all, or take turns earning 2 points for each match they make. Pay special attention to the shape of the bird’s beak and the shape of its forehead. Beak color is not as important here, as some of the skulls include the keratin layer (that’s the hard, shiny part of the beak that also gives it its color) and others only show the underlying bone.
More challenging: use all of the birds & beaks at once.
Less challenging: use fewer birds at once.
Memory Game
Pick your favorite 5 birds & their skulls (you’ll have 10 images total). Flip them upside down, shuffle them around, and lay them out in a grid. Each player takes turns flipping over two papers to see the image underneath. If they are a matched pair (bird & its skull), that player gets to remove the images from the game. They get 2 points! If the flipped papers are not a matched pair, flip them back over. The player to find the most pairs wins!
More challenging: use more or all of the bird & beak images
Less challenging: use fewer images at once.
Nature Journal Exploration
The next time you see a robin hopping around outside, remember that this is what its skull looks like.
Observational Drawing: Pick your favorite skull. Make a scientific drawing of it in your nature journal! Be sure to include the date and the species of bird you are drawing. Don’t worry too much about making a very accurate drawing. The important part is taking the time to look at the skull carefully and notice new things. Glue the printed picture of the bird or skull into your journal if you like.
Compare & Contrast: Pick two skulls. They can be very similar or very different. Point out things in the skulls that are the same. You can circle them, make arrows pointing to them, or color them all using the same colored crayon. Then, point out things in the skulls that are different. Mark them in the same way you did the similar things. Glue these pictures into your nature journal.
Build A Bird
Look at all of the pictures of birds and their skulls. There are SO many types of birds, and each bird has its very own beak! Imagine your very own made-up bird. What kind of food does it eat? How does it catch or find that food? What does its beak look like? Draw a picture of the bird’s head, and draw a picture of the skull below it.
More challenging: Draw the whole bird’s body. Where does it live? Draw the habitat around it too!
Less challenging: Check out the Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance Build-A-Bird lesson for bird parts to cut out, glue, and color. It’s Lesson 6 in our Climate Change Curriculum.
Bird Skull Research (for older kids)
The bald eagle sure does have a beautiful beak.
Pick out your favorite picture of a bird skull. With an adult’s help, go online and look up “parts of a bird skull”. Try to find all of the parts on your bird skull picture, and label them. Write the word for the skull part, and make a line pointing from the word to the skull part.
Think of a cool bird that isn’t in this lesson (flamingo, shoebill, & pelican are all great options). Try to find a picture of their skull!
Cool Web Pages to Check Out:
3D Skull Viewer
Pick an animal, then zoom, scan and glide around 3D scans of animal skulls. Their collection includes over 150 bird, mammal, and reptile skulls! Produced by the California Academy of Sciences
DK Find Out! Woodpecker Skulls
Learn about all of the cool adaptations woodpeckers have to keep their brains safe while they hammer trees. This site is great for kids to navigate solo.
Banner photo: Great blue heron skull. All skull photos by Carolyn Byers
