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CHILDREN'S BOOKS:

• John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers, 2003 —John Burroughs Association
• ...Saving Birds is a wonderful way to learn about a splendid variety of the world’s birds and the dedicated people determined to save them for the future. —Peter Matthiessen, author of Birds of Heaven, Tigers in the Snow, The Snow Leopard, and many more.
• ...Saving Birds is a profound yet delightful piece of work that teaches the importance of protecting birds throughout our world. The work of Audubon and the people portrayed in this book is marvelous! —Gail Gibbons, author and illustrator of children’s books
• ...At last, a children’s book that says, ‘Yes, it can be done!’ Yes, we can save endangered birds. Yes, we can save their endangered environments and the people who live in them. And it is happening. Heroes and heroines around the world are bringing many birds back from the brink of extinction. Their stories are richly told and beautifully illustrated in Audubon’s Saving Birds and will inspire many young people to seek careers in ecology and conservation. This is the happiest book I have read in a long, long time! —Jean Craighead George, 1973 winner of the Newbery Medal for Julie of the Wolves, and Newbery Honor Book for My Side of the Mountain

Can they do it? Can they save black robins from extinction in New Zealand when there are only five left in the world? Will they be able to use puppet shows and posters in the rainforests of Mexico to protect the colorful quetzal? Can painted turkey feathers help keep hornbills from being wiped out in Malaysia? Will an environmental problem and a people problem in China be solved so that cranes and local farmers can both thrive? In Israel, can scientists and children and neighbors work against the backdrop of war to save a little falcon? And will decoys and mirrors and sound recordings fool a handsome seabird into nesting safely again on Devil’s Slide Rock off the coast of California?
       Can they do it? It’s the question that excites and drives each story and its heroes in Saving Birds. Authors Pete Salmansohn and Steve Kress bring their own curiosity, enthusiasm, and expertise to each of these stories, just as they did with their previous Audubon book, Project Puffin. and its imaginative teacher’s guide, Giving Back to the Earth.
       This new book focuses on the experiences and efforts of grownups and children, scientists and volunteers working to save birds in very different corners of the world. Sometimes political and economic realities push their way into the picture, and at other times the challenges are more physical: scaling treacherous cliffs or braving rough seas to do the work that needs to be done to save birds. But as we learn about each bird and its problems, we see how our heroes use their imaginations to "think outside the box," coming up with unconventional and unusual methods-that work!
       Color photographs collected from around the world illustrate these six stories, and resource information at the back of the book allows you to contact participating organizations for more information about their work. Our six stories encourage volunteerism and activism, in and out of the classroom. Teachers will find that Giving Back to the Earth, the teacher’s guide developed for Project Puffin, is an excellent teaching resource for this book, as well.
       Authors Pete Salmansohn and Steve Kress are known for thinking "outside the box," too. In 1973 Steve Kress came up with a new method for re-establishing seabird colonies, an experiment that successfully brought puffins back to Maine. The techniques he developed are now being used to help birds in other parts of the world. Steve still spends each summer working with seabird colonies on Maine’s offshore islands, and is Audubon’s vice president for bird conservation and director of Audubon’s Seabird Restoration Program. Pete Salmansohn has been working with Steve on the Puffin Project since 1980 and is an educator for Audubon. Thousands of children have learned about birds and the environment in his workshops in schools, camps, and nature centers, and he has led hundreds of public boat cruises to see puffins off the coast of Maine. Pete was named Maine’s Environmental Educator of the Year in 1998 and in 2001 received a Visionary Award from the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. Project Puffin: How We Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock was named a "Notable Book for Children" by Smithsonian, an "Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children" by the Children’s Book Council and National Association of Science Teachers, and received an "Honor Book" award from Skipping Stones.












TEACHERS TAKE NOTE
"Looking Up" to Find Role Models For Children
Every classroom can benefit from promoting the idea of volunteerism and activism on behalf of our environment. Pete Salmansohn's and Stephen Kress's book, Saving Birds, is truly "global" in its outlook. It documents how individuals-some of them children-from California, Israel, China, Mexico, New Zealand, and Malaysia have come together and worked on projects in their individual communities to help save wild birds, some on the brink of extinction. The message of this book is that saving birds requires large doses of inventiveness and commitment as well as incredible cooperative skills! Of course, as every educator knows, those are exactly the same qualities needed to complete any successful group project. By using Saving Birds in classrooms and showing how others do "the right thing" for the environment, teachers will help their students begin to learn what it takes to put aside the "human agenda" and work on behalf of other species.
    This book's vibrant photographs will introduce children simultaneously to birds and world geography. Salmansohn, who is a nationally recognized Audubon educator, urges teachers to read Saving Birds with groups of students and then brainstorm with them to identify "local heroes" in their own communities. He notes that many Audubon and wildlife organizations want to honor those who volunteer on behalf of the environment, and are happy to reach out to leaders of all ages in their communities.
    These days, achieving a "sense of place" is valuable, yet uncommon for students. Teachers who educate their classes about the local environment, may help students develop just the qualities needed to become the leaders we will one day want.

WEB SITES of organizations featured in Saving Birds
www.rarecenter.org: RARE Center for Tropical Conservation
www.savingcranes.org: International Crane Foundation
www. audubon.org/bird/puffin/

Additional Educational Websites:
Links to specific school projects.
www.webdirectory.com/Education/K-12/

The National Audubon Society
Includes information about Audubon's many programs and publications, including details on Steve Kress's most recent work with the common murres at Devil's Slide Rock off the coast of California.
www.audubon.org/audubon/

Tweeters
This is a wonderful link to all sorts of information on birds of all types. A lot to explore here!
weber.u.washington.edu/dvictor/

Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Information about their resources and programs, including "Citizen Science" volunteer projects (Project FeederWatch, Classroom FeederWatch) their Library of Natural Sounds, and more.
www.ornith.cornell.edu.cs./main.html/

Activity Suggestion
What Can You Learn About Animals In Trouble?
From: Giving Back to the Earth: A Teacher's Guide for Project Puffin and Other Seabird Studies (The activities in this Tilbury House guide are a good fit with Saving Birds)
Objective:
Students will learn about why different animals suffered years ago (bison, passenger pigeon, great auk, tern, wolf, eskimo curlew) and compare them with animals in trouble now (peregrine falcons, sea turtles, grizzly bears, spotted salamanders, gorillas, etc.)
Time:
Half period in class with more time for library research.
Materials:
1) Lots of photos or drawings of animals that have suffered in the past (see above list).
2) Photos and drawings of animals that are currently endangered.
3) Index cards to write down individual reasons why animals became endangered/extinct.
Lesson Content:
Reasons for animals to be in trouble in the past.
Bison: Hunted for its fur and meat.
Passenger Pigeon: Hunted for its meat.
Great Auk: Hunted for its meat.
Tern: Hunted for its feathers.
Wolf: Hunted for its fur; people were afraid of it.
Reasons for animals are in trouble currently
Peregrine Falcon: exposure to DDT thins eggs.
Sea Turtles: Loss of nesting habitat.
Grizzly bears: Habitat loss and people afraid of them.
Spotted Salamanders: Acid rain kills its eggs and larvae.
Method:
Have students select an animal from the past or present and research why the animal's numbers declined to the point of extinction. The students write findings on "their" animal on note cards and briefly share their information with the class. Later this activity becomes a matching game. Hang or post the first group of animals pictures in one area, and the second in another area. Students try to match the image of the animal with "trouble" cards telling why the animals suffered or are suffering. Have students take 10 minutes or so to do the matching. Follow up the game with discussion.
Discussion:
Hunting for food and products were the main reason why animals were threatened in the past. Today, modern-day animals face an even greater array of threats. Talk about these differences and what can be done to protect the animals.