By Hope Loman
Rowan Public Library

It might be too cold and dreary to go outside, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get in touch with nature. This February, Rowan Public Library will offer a special online program for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade and their families that will focus our feathered friends.

One of Rowan Public Library’s programming partners, ecoEXPLORE, has announced that Dec. 1-Feb. 28 is officially ornithology season. Ornithology is the branch of zoology that deals with the study of birds, including classification of species, anatomy, adaptations and bird behavior. Because most information about birds is gained through direct field observation, ornithology is one of the few fields of science where nonprofessionals have made substantial contributions. This makes ornithology a perfect ecoEXPLORE theme — for those who don’t know, ecoEXPLORE is a children’s citizen-science program created by the Greensboro Science Center and the North Carolina Arboretum that encourages citizens to explore the outdoors. If children take pictures of the animals and plants they find, they can submit them to be approved and used by scientists as well as earn cool prizes.

On Feb. 22, the Rowan Public Library will host ecoEXPLORE’s Introduction to Ornithology virtual program at 4 p.m.  During this program, children will learn about different birds as well as how to enroll in ecoEXPLORE. This program is prerecorded, and a link will be provided via Rowan Public Library social media. If you can’t attend at the official program time, you can always view the video at a later date. Those interested can also go ahead and visit the website, www.ecoexplore.net/badges/ornithology to learn about how to earn an ornithology field badge, learn more about the program, and see what other ecoEXPLORE events are being hosted by libraries around the state and online.

While you’re waiting for the day of the program, here are some titles that are currently in the RPL collection that might be of interest to any potential bird-watchers:

• “Can You Find These Birds?” By Carmen Bredeson — Emerging readers can learn about how to identify common birds and discover their different traits.

• “Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard,” by Annette Cate — This book includes full-color illustrations of birds and their distinctive characteristics including plumage, beak and foot types.

• “Birds: Nature’s Magnificent Flying Machines,” by Caroline Arnold — Readers will learn about the mechanics of bird flight, as well as how feathers, body structure and wing type vary between birds.

• “Bird,” by David Burnie — Discover bird facts like how they make their nests, why eggs are different colors and what feathers are for.

• “Birds in Your Backyard,” by Barbara Herkert — This book will teach children how to identify birds in their backyard, different bird behaviors, and how to build a nest box to attract birds.

• “On the Wings: American Birds in Migration,” by Carol Lerner — Learn about the migratory patterns of birds in America, complete will realistic illustrations.

Hope Loman is children’s room supervisor at the Rowan Public Library.