Can't Talk Right Now, I'm Birding

Let's go look at birds...fossil birds!

Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! You hear some faint bird calls in the distance. Learn about some of the ancient birds in Eocene Florissant. The fossilized remains of birds can be seen as impressions left behind by their skeleton and their feathers became carbonized and left behind intricate details. Fossil birds are rare at Florissant and teach us more about the past environment as well.

For this activity:

1. Read about field observations you can make while bird watching *in-person* outdoors.
2. Read about a couple of the fossils birds of Florissant.
3. Draw your own bird! Use your imagination to envision a bird from the past.

 

Telling Birds Apart

According to the National Audubon Society, some observations that you can make about birds to help for identification include their:

• Group: how are families of birds grouped together? What distinct trait do they share?
• Shape: a bird's shape can also help you narrow down which group it belongs to. Study a bird's shape by making note of its leg height, bill or beak shape, neck length, etc.
• Size: take note of a bird's size and try to compare its size with that of known birds.
• Behavior: what is the bird doing? How is it moving? Is it alone or in a flock?
• Habitat: record the type of environment the bird is in and keep in mind that it may be out of its usual habitat during migration season.
• Season: birds are predicatable when it comes to seasons changing throughout the year.
• Markings: look at the colors and markings on a bird such as any stripes or rings around their eyes.
• Voice: if you have experience bird watching and can identify birds based on sound, then listen for any unusual sounds you might here from above you.

 

Fossilized perching bird or roller.

NPS

From the trees and into rock

Behold a Paleospiza Bella otherwise known as a perching bird and is now considered to be a roller (Order Coraciiformes). This type of bird is arboreal, which means that it lives in the trees in forests. Rollers live in the forests of the Old World today. Look below for close-up views of this fossil bird. Through its delicate preservation, you can see the bird's original features.

Write down the observations you can make by taking a closer look at the fossil below.

 

Close-up views of different parts of the bird fossil. You can see where the bones of the bird left behind impressions in the rock and where the feathers turned to carbon or carbonized into the rock leaving behind delicate details.

NPS

 

Look at the fossilized remains of an ancient cuckoo bird. In this specimen, the head is missing!

NPS

A new species of cuckoo (Eocuculus cherpinae)
Although the head of this specimen was lost, the rest of this bird skeleton particularly the legs and feet help with determining whether this ancient cuckoo was arboreal. The cuckoo foot has two toes pointed permanently forward and one toe that is reversible forward or backward.

The Eocuculus is related to the modern Cuculus or the common cuckoo. These cuckoos are gray, brown, or white in color with alternating colored stripes on their underside. These birds live in forests, woodlands, and scrub habitats.The ancient cuckoo of Florissant likely ate mostly insects in which is had abundant access to.

 

Now that you've read about some of the fossil birds of Florissant, use your artistic skills to recreate what you think a bird from the past might've looked like.

Draw an ancient bird

Imagine that over 100 years ago, you were walking along a trail and came across layered rocks sticking out from a hillside. You notice that these rocks easily split across and open like a book to reveal these dark carbon images of ancient plants, insects, and animals. You split the shale to find a fossilized bird that appears flattened. However, the bird is incomplete. It's actually missing its head!

Use your imagination to draw how you think this bird looked. Think about what the shape and size of its head and beak was compared to the rest of its body. How long is it? What shape is its tail. Keep these in mind while you're drawing. Also, use different colored pencils or crayons to add detail to your bird's feathers.

Proud of your art? Email us what you think the headless bird might've looked while it was alive!

 

Choose where to go now.

Where to next?

1. Go back to the forest.
2. Revisit the Eocene.
3. Return to the present.