Birding With Children: An Engaging, Easy Guide

Do you feel that birding is complicated and best left to the experts? The truth is, you don’t need extensive knowledge or fancy equipment to watch birds with children.

What we love about birding?

• It’s an activity that anyone can do
• It can take place anywhere because birds are all around us, all the time
• It’s an instant way to feel connected to nature

The science of birding might be complex, yet it’s based on a beautiful, simple premise - to notice and appreciate birds. 

“Birding doesn’t need anything more than willingness, a notebook, and a pair of binoculars. What truly makes a difference is parent and teacher enthusiasm,” shares Sanjay Mistry, Experience Manager and resident birding expert at Indiahikes.

In this article, we’re going to share established best practices for birding with children, and how to guide their natural curiosity while birdwatching.

Step 1. Start With the Birds Around You

Objective: Begin with building curiosity and love for birds that live alongside you. 

Crows hopping around on rooftops, a pair of mynas, pigeons strutting around like they own the place, tiny sparrows in trees, and if you’re lucky, maybe a peacock showing off in a garden.

The birds around us and their habits are fascinating; much more than we give them credit for.

What to do:
- Ask children to observe one bird at a time. What is it doing? Hopping? Pecking? Singing?
- Ask children to notice its size, shape, and colour.
- Encourage them to describe the bird in their own words - how it looks, its personality, and what they think the bird is doing. There are no wrong answers.

The goal is to help children see birds and build emotional connections beyond just looking at them and forgetting afterwards.

Step 2: Discover new birds in wilder spaces

Objective: Help children make sense of new birds

Once children can recognise the birds around them, step into wilder spaces such as a park, a hill, or a lake. 

What to do:

Use common birds around as a reference:
- Compare sizes: “Is this bird bigger or smaller than a pigeon?”
- What’s its shape? Slim? Round? Bulky?
- What kind of beak does it have? A hook? A long spear? A tiny tweezer-like beak?
-  What color is its head and neck? Bright, dull, striped?
- What about its legs and tail? Short? Long? Forked?

Birdwatching becomes a game of patterns and puzzles rather than a dry exercise in naming species and checking them off a list.

Naming the bird isn’t as important as observing it at this stage.

3. Spot and Remember

Objective: Make quick observations before birds fly away.

Birds don’t wait for us to take notes. They’re here one minute, and gone the next. 

The trick is to zoom in on the most striking detail of a bird before they fly away.

Quick tricks for quick observations:
🔹 Is the bird mostly hidden? Focus on the part you can see. A bright yellow beak? A red tail? A speckled head?
🔹 Encourage children to describe what they see in one sentence. Example: “A tiny bird with a bright green body and a long, curved beak.”
🔹 Sketching helps! Even rough doodles make a difference.

The goal is to train the eyes and brain to see quickly, observe keenly, and remember vividly.

4. Most Importantly—Make It Fun!

Birding isn’t a test. Birding elicits wonder, patience, and excitement. Instead of drilling facts, help children build their own connections.

Ideas to make birding an adventure:
- Ask children to come up with stories about birds—Why is the crow cawing so loudly? What is the pigeon thinking?
- Mimic bird calls, and make it a fun challenge.
- Read books about birds—The more children see birds in stories, the more they will notice them outside.

Birdwatching helps children and adults slow down, pay attention, and be present. In a world that moves too fast, isn’t that a gift worth passing on?