Victoria Zablocki: Teaching science in elementary school is crucial for nurturing young minds. But as educators, finding the time and resources to create engaging lessons can be a challenge. That's where this podcast comes in.

Welcome to Naturally Teaching Elementary Science, the show dedicated to supporting elementary teachers in their quest to bring authentic and place-based science experiences to their classroom. I'm Victoria Zablocki, a certified elementary teacher turned outdoor educator. With over a decade of experience coaching teachers on effective science teaching methods, I'm passionate about making science accessible, understandable, and fun for educators and students alike.

Join me as we explore strategies for teaching science in elementary school with practical teaching tips, insightful interviews, picture book reviews, and more. Whether you've taught for a long time or just started your teaching journey, this podcast is your trusty resource for enhancing your science curriculum. So let's grow together.

Victoria Zablocki: Hey everybody, welcome back to the Naturally Teaching Elementary Science podcast. My name is Victoria Zablocki and I'm your host. So even though it's only November, I'm excited to share with you a conversation I had with Martha Holzheuer about developing a bird feeding station for the Great Backyard Bird Count coming in February.

If you're not familiar, the Great Backyard Bird Count is a citizen science project that millions of people worldwide take part in in February each year. This project relies on non-scientists observing, recording and submitting sightings of bird species while hiking or watching feeders. One of the best parts about this citizen science project is that they actually encourage and support the help of teachers and their students.

So if you're looking for a way to get involved in citizen science with your students, this project is a great starting point. And creating a bird feeding station is a great way to encourage diversity in your sightings in preparation for the next count, which happens on February 14th through 17th, 2025. As you'll hear in this episode, successfully setting up a bird feeding station takes some time.

So we talked early about this topic in order to give you time to set up your station before the ground freezes. So many thanks to Martha for sharing so much great information about setting up a bird feeding station. She addresses each step to make this as easy and streamlined of a process as possible.

And if you don't know Martha, Martha is the owner of Nature Niche, a nature focused gift and supply store on the north side of Midland in Michigan. She spent approximately 15 years working as a landscape ecologist and an environmental consultant, specializing in threatened and endangered species protection and permitting, native plant design, invasive species management, wildlife habitat enhancement and ecological restoration. Before that, she taught Woody Plants Field Labs while securing dual master's degrees in terrestrial forest ecology and landscape architecture at the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

She is a certified ecological restoration practitioner, professional landscape architect registered in Michigan, certified ecologist and certified arborist, and serves as a board member for the Society for Ecological Restoration Midwest, Great Lakes Chapter, and Michigan Wetlands Association. She loves botanizing and gardening with native plants, nature photography and art, helping people learn about and connect with nature, strategizing to protect rare species, gift giving and making people happy.

This woman has done a lot and is an amazing resource for the community. So I was super excited when she told me she would come on today. So I hope you enjoy.

Victoria Zablocki: Hey everybody, welcome back to the Naturally Teaching Elementary Science podcast. I am here today with Martha Holzheuer, and so I'm going to let her give you her background because she has a vast variety of experiences. I'm going to let her share that with you.

[3:58]

Martha Holzheuer: Thanks so much, Victoria. So I have been trained as a landscape ecologist and a landscape architect. So I am freely admitting my first love is native plants and our natural native landscape ecosystems.

I've been an environmental consultant for about 15 years, and I did a lot of work with rare species, and basically realized that supporting our native wildlife, it really does boil back down to those native plants and our native landscape ecosystems to best support them. And so I transitioned from consulting into retail. In 2020, I like to tell people I'm the crazy lady who started a business at the beginning of the pandemic.

And I use my brick and mortar nature store in Midland, Michigan, and our online website, and we ship across the whole United States for environmental education. And my mission is to help people be good stewards of the environment that we all share and help them connect with nature. And a big portion of that business is to help customers with their wild bird feeding efforts.

I've been an avid wild bird feeder, I'd say, for about the last six years. I like testing products and techniques in my own backyard, but I've been native plant gardening and doing wildlife habitat enhancement as an environmental consultant in my own yard and in my business landscape for a longer period of time.

Victoria Zablocki: Awesome. So that kind of leads us into what we're talking about today. So I wanted to introduce the idea of the Great Backyard Bird Count and give teachers an opportunity to put a feeding station together.

There's a couple different ways that you can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, but first I want to share that it's a citizen science project that's powered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society and also Birds Canada. And they work together for four days of the year to support a worldwide birding opportunity. So people can go out on the trails and go for birding hikes, or they can look at feeders and count how many birds of different species they see, contribute that data to the project, and then scientists have a better idea of global populations before the annual spring migration.

So I brought Martha on today to share with us her experience with creating bird feeding stations and that way you'll feel supported in order to be able to develop your own bird feeding station if you wanted to do this with your own classroom. Because honestly, the Great Backyard Bird Count is a wonderful citizen science project that encourages the participation from teachers and students.

So Martha brought up the fact that finding a good location for your bird feeders is probably the first step, so I'm going to have Martha share with us some tips and tricks for finding a good location that will keep the birds safe, but then also allow you to participate in the project.

[6:43]

Martha Holzheuer: Yeah, I'd be happy to. I think it's important to remember that our feeding stations are being set up to offer healthy food that's supplemental to wild birds’ natural diets, and so we should have in our minds that first do no harm with where we're putting the feeding stations. So keeping the birds' safety relative to window collisions and protective cover, I think is really important.

So a couple of tips I'd like to offer on that front, you want to think about having your bird feeders or baths if you're using them either on your school classroom window or within three feet of that window. And that's so if the birds are spooked, they can't really build up enough momentum to hurt themselves if they, you know, tunk into the window or more than 30 feet from windows. And there are things you can do.

I do different environmental education posts and have, they're called Mondays with Martha, and there's one on avoiding window collisions. That one's number 78. So window clings and UV and think about the distance that you're placing your feeders from windows to help provide a safe feeding location for the birds.

I would also suggest placing them near existing trees and shrubs if you can, you know, within 10 to 20 feet. That gives the birds an easy place to escape. If predators happen to come into the space, it gives them a spot to perch and survey the feeding area and kind of decide, am I ready to come in and eat from the feeder?

So it gives them a place to stop and think. I would avoid areas that are like too open or exposed. You'll get fewer visitors if the birds don't feel safe.

And think about placing them away from noisy, busy places like the school entrance or maybe intensive use playgrounds or where there's a lot of vehicle traffic. And then think about a convenient location for you as the teacher and your students for both access and doing observations. So you're going to need to refill those feeders and clean them and to take counts and make sure you're getting a good view of your visitors.

So think about proximity to your classroom windows, to maybe a hose spigot, to where there's a utility sink for cleaning, where you might be storing the food and where there are benches or other seating, like group area where students could comfortably observe at a distance and be able to collect data.

Oh, and one more thing, squirrels and other mammals. Don't forget to think about them because they will find you. And they will usurp the feeders. They're always after an easy meal. And so you'll see fewer birds if they have free access.

I'm totally for feeding them, maybe give them their own feeders. But I do suggest trying to have your main feeders, squirrel and other mammals like raccoons and opossums keep them off. And so that means setting up a system that is at least 10 feet away from any launching point.

So think fences, trees, air conditioner unit, benches. You can do that with a pole-mounted baffle on the pole under all of your feeders. And the top of that baffle needs to be at four to four and a half feet above the ground.

If you need to hang your feeders in a tree, you want them four to six feet out from the trunk. You can use a hanging baffle above the feeder. You just have to make sure there aren't branches that swing underneath, that they can just jump directly to the feeder.

But kind of thinking about those things, there are some other solutions. I did a post on to feed or not feed your squirrels. That one is, I think, number 28. So be prepared. Yeah. Think about that too.

Victoria Zablocki:  That's 100 percent true. I remember when I was working at the Nature Center in the wildlife viewing area, it's a two-way glass and they hang the feeders immediately outside the window. But then the squirrels figured out how to parkour off the window.

So they would jump onto the window and push off the window into the feeders. It was amazing. Their ingenuity.

Martha Holzheuer: They are smart and very athletic. So sometimes window-mounting feeders totally works. You need a big window and put the feeders in the middle.

Victoria Zablocki: Yeah, totally. So with that information, now a teacher has a good idea where they could put feeders. But what kind of feeders would be the best bang for their buck?

Because it is hard for teachers to acquire materials sometimes, and you want to get the greatest variety of bird species. So what kind of feeders and feed would help teachers get the most variety in their location?

Martha Holzheuer: Sure. So I'm going to give a broad answer first and then get a little more specific. But in general, feeders that are easy to keep clean and are safe for the birds, that's where you want to start.

Wooden feeders might be more economic or kind of making it out of household materials, but they tend not to last long, and you want to make sure that they're easy to disinfect. And so my recommendation would be a metal or plastic, or you can even do polywood, like recycled plastic, but they're built like wooden feeders. They have no sharp edges, no loose pieces that might entangle the birds, and they're easy to disinfect with a mild bleach solution.

And also that help protect the seeds so that it doesn't constantly get wet and end up producing mold and bacterial growth and things that are bad for the birds. So that's my broad answer.

Specifically, I think to get the most diversity of birds, hopper feeders, like platform or tray feeders, and tube feeders that are easy to disassemble for cleaning and that offer substantial perching room. You want, some birds are more particular about that than others. Some are good at clinging. Others need a little bit more of a landing pad.

And so, give them a room for that, whether that's a perch on the tube feeder, or the tray, or a hopper feeder that has a nice tray associated with it. Cylinder feeders are another very simple kind of feeder that holds seed logs that are really easy to clean and maintain. And then, I also suggest a vertical suet feeder with some kind of tail prop that's easy for even the birds that don't cling all the time. They can get their balance by pushing with their tail. So those are rough, like broad, that's pretty broad, but broad feeder types, I'd suggest.

And then for food, you want to make sure you're feeding a clean, high quality bird seed mix that doesn't have the icky fillers in it that the birds just don't prefer and that are going to collect and might mold and harbor bacteria.

So things like milo, oats, wheat, that sort of thing, avoid those. My number one go-to is a black oil sunflower based mix. Black oil sunflower is the seed that studies have shown is most preferred by the largest number of bird species.

It has a high meat to shell ratio, good fat content, easy for even the little birds to handle that. So we offer a house blend, the Martha's Midland Songbird, that's black oil sunflower based, but it also has sunflower hearts, safflower, peanut splits, and a little bit of millet. I say it has a little bit of something for everyone, and so a black oil sunflower based mix.

If you can only feed one thing, feed that. If you're worried about the hulls, like the outer shells of the black oil sunflower, and that's messy, you can get shell free mixes and just feed sunflower hearts or mixes that are based on sunflower hearts. They are more expensive because there's more handling.

Next, I would say suet, especially if you're doing the Great Backyard Bird Count. It's cold. Winter months, suet is a great high energy food source, and you'll see things that might not eat it year round, like on snowy days, I've seen my bluebirds, I've seen goldfinches, you know, other things.

Besides woodpeckers, nut hatches, chickadees, the things you would typically find coming to suet. So, oh, cardinals, I've seen cardinals too, hang out on the suet feeder. So in winter months, I think that's a great food.

Peanuts are nice to be able to offer those. A lot of times you can cover that, like mixes will have peanut splits in them. And then if you have the room, budget can get a little more fancy, I would say offering Nyjers commonly known as thistle seed, but it's not truly thistle.

Or finch mixes, like we sell one that's Nyjer and chopped up sunflower hearts. And the finches go crazy, so you get gold finches, but you could also attract some of the eruptive finch species, like common red polls, pine siskins, visitors we get in the winter. So that would increase your bird diversity as well.

Victoria Zablocki: Awesome. Those are all great. I've noticed a lot of success with the black oil, sunflower seeds, and the peanuts. And for sure, the suet, especially in the wintertime, is a hot commodity for birds.

So if an interested teacher is in a location that gets snow, like us here in Michigan, how important is it to include a heated water station during February when the count takes place?

[16:41]

Martha Holzheuer: I think offering a heated bird bath is a great idea and very important to get good bird diversity. I think in general, having water as part of your feeding station year round, fresh, clean source of water. It's a great addition.

And I think it helps with bird diversity because not all bird species will come to a bird feeder, and maybe not everybody understands that, but every bird needs water. And so offering a good source of water will bring in birds. And then in the winter months in cold climates, having free, unfrozen, a fresh water source is such a rare resource.

The birds are just going to come from a long distance, and I think you'll see species you might not otherwise if you only have food out for them. And I would say the same idea is applied to baths. So within three feet of your window or more than 30 feet away, and just remember if you're doing a heated bird bath, you're going to want access to a GFI outlet and have an outdoor rated extension cord.

But they do make thermostatically controlled ones that are only going to run as needed when it drops below a certain temperature. But yeah, I've enjoyed watching birds at my heated bird bath on many a cold winter morning.

Victoria Zablocki: Those are good points. I hadn't really thought about the actual electrical component of it. So thank you for mentioning that!

So we're talking about this Citizen Science Project in November. And then that gives teachers the opportunity to establish their feeding station. But about how long does it usually take birds to find a new feeder?

I know that it takes some time, they don't know it's there. So when should an interested teacher have their station established to have the best chance at seeing birds for the bird count?

[18:13]

Martha Holzheuer: So I would say a minimum of one month. Generally, it takes birds, it can take birds, as much as a month, sometimes more to adjust to a new feeder or a new type of feed, especially if it's in a location where they haven't been fed before. So the timing in part might depend on what your school neighbors do.

And if they feed wild birds and you're putting your station, you know, within close proximity, they could find you the first day. But I would aim for a minimum of a month. And as far as like getting poles into the ground before it freezes, you might want to aim earlier than that.

So think about those logistics. Mounting things to windows can be fun when it's cold. You can get around that by washing them with warm water, drying quickly, and then getting the suction cups on. But the sooner the better, the better diversity and results you have. But aim for at least a month ahead of the count.

Victoria Zablocki: Awesome. We're talking about feeding specifically for the Great Backyard Bird Count. But if a teacher commits to this, should they continue feeding throughout the rest of the year? Could they take a break during the summer? When is it appropriate for them to feed birds through their feeder?

Martha Holzheuer: Sure. So I would say you can feed birds year round. It is most critical, and not everybody realizes this, the winter months, or when we can have the most beneficial impact for them and help with their survival rates. They don't need us.

And so if you have to take a break when school's not in session, that's fine. A lot of people are like, I have to go on vacation. What do I do with my bird feeders? I say, if you have a week or at least a few days where you can taper, that'll help the birds start searching for food resources elsewhere. If something happens and you stop feeding, the birds will be okay. So yeah, winter months are key and it's totally fine.

If you enjoy having them around and that process and want to do more projects, I mean, you can report that data even longer, like Feeder Watch would be another way to report your observations. You can definitely feed the birds year round.

Victoria Zablocki: So say that a teacher listened to this episode, established their bird feeding station, participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count with their students, and absolutely loved it. How could this teacher use native plants to establish a more natural feeding station going forward? And what are the benefits of using native plants to feed birds?

[19:38]

Martha Holzheuer: Yeah, so big native plant enthusiast here. So I love these questions. The benefits of having native plants for your wild birds, that is their natural food resource.

And so you provide food for them if you're planting native plants directly, because those plants produce seeds and nuts, fruit, and indirectly by supporting our native insect fauna, which are also a natural food resource. And so having them in the landscape, you're providing lots of natural food resources for the birds. Those native plants also provide shelter.

So shelter from predators, from bad weather, and a place for the birds to roost at night. And then they also provide nesting sites and nesting materials. So like our native grasses get woven into the nest, our thistle and milkweed fluff and things like that get used to line nests.

And birds will use those species, the trees, shrubs, those locations for places to build their nests and raise their young. So I think native plants are important for all of those reasons. And as far as kind of how to approach it or what you need to plant, I did a whole series on this February is Wild Bird Feeding Month.

And one February, I did a whole series, Mondays with Martha, number 193 through 196, on how to feed birds with native plants. You want to aim for a mixture of plants and make sure that those native plants are adapted to your site. You want the plants to be successful so they can offer the food and shelter benefits.

And think about species that offer different kinds of food. And I kind of lump them into the main categories of like dry seeds and nuts, fleshy fruit like berries and nectar and sap, especially if you want hummingbirds and species like that. And then insects.

And so just very broadly, there have been studies done to see what kinds of plants support the most butterfly and moth caterpillars. And for us in the Midwest and in Michigan, planting an oak, planting a cherry, planting a willow are really great host plants for those insects that then help feed the birds.

And then I would say, think about adding different structure levels. So big trees, understory trees, shrubs, vines. There's nothing that a cardinal loves more than having a nice like grape vine or something to hide in.

And then ground cover structure too. The herbaceous plants, species like sparrows and juncos and things like they like wrestling around in the leaf litter and collecting seeds off of those. But you're providing cover.

You can plant those native plants to help provide better windbreaks for your different parts of your school landscape and time it so that the fruit, the flowers, those kinds of things are provided at different times during the season, during the year to offer the most diverse food options for them.

And yeah, I have lots of other posts on my website and we do native plant sales twice a year. So I love talking to people about native plants and helping you pick out what's best for your site.

Victoria Zablocki: Awesome. That's actually a great lead into sharing how people can find you. If they have any questions, you mentioned Mondays with Martha.

And so can you share with people how they can get more of your resources and reach out to you?

[24:52]

Martha Holzheuer: Yeah, absolutely. So I do have a brick and mortar storefront. So you are always welcome to come visit us. The address is 2004 West Wackerly Street in Midland, Michigan. We're up on the north side of town by the fairgrounds and the US 10 exit. So come in. Yeah, talk to us there. We love talking birds and native plants with everyone.

You can find us online at nature-niche.com. My Mondays with Martha are there, and I have some blog posts too. So if you scroll down to the bottom of the website, you can find that. We also have a Nature Niche YouTube channel.

And so all of my Mondays with Martha get archived there, basically. So you can subscribe or just find that, and look for the topic that you're interested in.

We have a Facebook page. You can follow us on Facebook, and you're always welcome to call or email. If you can't come talk to us in person, that information is on the website. I do offer native plant sales twice a year, in May and the end of August.

So that's a great time to come look at native plants, talk about native plants. I'm happy to walk you around the demonstration gardens around our, around the store. And then I do for the local folks offer like native plant design office hours. You can come to me, bring me pictures. We can talk about native plants and or wild bird feeding setups for your site. And I do some site assessments too.

And those, that's the little bit of consulting that I still do, but those are options for the people nearby.

Victoria Zablocki: That's great. That's so many different ways that people can reach out to you. And Martha has not just bird feeding experience, she has lots of experience with plants too.

So if you want to just add diversity to your schoolyards, talk to Martha. She's got so many ideas and she's super passionate about it. So I will make sure to put all those links in the show notes for people.

And I want to thank you for your time, Martha. It's been fantastic. And I hope that people start to develop what they need to be able to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. So thank you for your time.

Martha Holzheuer: Oh, thank you so much for having me. Happy birding, everybody.

Victoria Zablocki: Wasn't that great? Martha's so easy to talk to and full of amazing knowledge. Make sure to get a hold of her if you have any questions about bird feeding, native plants, or other nature topics.

And make sure to check out her YouTube channel. She publishes a new episode each Monday about all sorts of different nature topics. Great background information for you as the teacher and great opportunities to encourage more learning at home with your students.

[27:40]

So for today's teaching tip, I wanted to hit on a point we didn't discuss in the interview - acquiring the materials to set up a bird feeding station. We all know that teacher budgets are tight and adding a bird feeding station could eat up some of that tight budget. However, now is a good time to start looking towards acquiring bird feeding materials because many stores are putting their summer feeders on sale and you could buy them at a reduced price.

There's also the potential for asking local stores for donations. So as stores rotate their seasonal items out, they're more willing to donate them to teachers as a business write-off. You could get your students involved with this by helping you write letters to hardware stores, pet supply stores, and other local businesses.

Have them include a description of the Great Backyard Bird Count and how it's a citizen science project that they want to use the bird feeding station for. Many communities get really excited about helping out citizen science efforts as well as STEM projects. You could also try to get creative with seeking sponsorships from some of these local organizations.

After getting approval from your administration, you could reach out to local hardware stores, garden centers, and similar businesses to see if they would consider supplying your school with a certain amount of bird food over the course of the school year in exchange for recognition in your school's newsletter, on your school's website, and a sign near the bird feeding station. Martha has actually done something similar with our local Nature Center. She has sponsored their bird feeding station with her local bird seed mix, and in exchange, they have a sign in the space thanking her for her contributions, and her business is mentioned in their newsletter and emails.

Also, if you're listening to this episode in the spring or the summer, you could look for grants that would be applicable to setting up a bird feeding station. Unfortunately, there's no list of bird feeding grants, but if you check into groups like your local Audubon chapter or birding groups, they may be able to help you find something to get funding for the following school year.

With a quick Google search, I was able to find an article by the Rural Schools Collaborative about a 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin who secured a place-based grant from their organization to support a year-long bird study, including funding for new field guides, binoculars and bird feeding.

I'll make sure to link that article in the show notes so you can check it out. If you're looking for more ways to get your students involved in setting up your bird feeding station, check out my mini unit, The Great Backyard Bird Count: Citizen Science Projects for 5th graders. This project-based mini unit works your students through researching different bird food types, bird feeder styles, and then has them write up a proposal for which combination food and feeders your class should invest in.

Then your students get to become champions of a local bird species to create posters to hang up for identification during your bird count. There are also recording sheets for a practice count and then for the actual bird count. And then the unit concludes with the sharing of class data, graphing said data, and then an opinion writing about whether or not your students feel like their data contributed to the scientific community or not.

And I'll make sure to put a link for this mini unit in the show notes, or you can find it in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store Naturally Teaching. I'll also include a link to my article, The Great Backyard Bird Count: How to Take Part for Elementary Teachers, which breaks down how to participate, how to find bird count checklists, the counting rules, picture books to introduce counting birds, helpful materials, field guide suggestions, scientific tools for data collection, and related activities for your students. So thanks for taking the time to listen today.

I know you're busy and I truly appreciate the time you take to tune in. If you have any questions or wonderings, get ahold of me on Instagram at Naturally.Teaching, or you can email me at victoria@naturallyteaching.com. And don't forget to check out the show notes for this episode at naturallyteaching.com/episode27.

Thanks again for joining us today. And until next time, keep exploring, keep learning, and keep naturally teaching.

Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of the Naturally Teaching Elementary Science podcast. I hope you found it informative, inspiring, and full of actionable insights to enhance your science teaching journey. Connect with me on social media for more updates, science tidbits, and additional resources.

You can find me on Instagram and Facebook at naturally.teaching. Let's continue the conversation and share our passion for elementary science education together. Don't forget to visit my website at naturallyteaching.com for all the show notes from today's episode.

If you enjoyed today's episode, please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps me improve and reach more educators just like you. Thank you again for listening, and until next time, keep exploring, keep learning, and keep naturally teaching.