The Cherry Hills branch library May/June activity is Bird Bingo – Native and Migrating Birds. To participate, visit the library and pick up a Bingo card by the May/June board or ask a librarian for assistance, then go look for birds on the card for a chance to win a free book.
On the Beginner’s Bird Bingo card, participants are asked to find an American robin, house sparrow, house finch, white-winged dove, black-chinned hummingbird, bushtit, Cooper’s hawk, greater roadrunner, and scrub jay. Anyone who can find a combination of those birds on at least two rows of the bingo card wins a free book. If the card is too easy, ask the information desk for the Advanced Bird Bingo card.
The library offers several books and field guides to help participants identify visiting and native bird species. Bird watching kits are also available for checkout at the Cherry Hills library and other libraries in Bernalillo County. The library asks participants to start a notebook to record dates and times each bird is observed. “After a year of record keeping, you’ll have a much better idea who your annual avian visitors might be,” the front side of the Bingo card says.
Birders can report their findings by posting photos and notes on the May/June board inside the Cherry Hills Library. The library recommends reading “What the Robin Knows” by Jon Young to better understand the language of birds and their behaviors.
