The JP Birders of U City

Bird club helps kid with his new school

Twelve-year-old Mackenzie Smith found his interest in bird watching helped him get involved at his new school, Jackson Park Elementary School in University City.

And 10-year-old Ellie Turner and 11-year-old Mia Phillips teamed together to make their interest in birds into a successful St. Louis Science Fair project.

These are just some of the ways the kids at Jackson Park Elementary have turned their love of birds to good use.

Fourth grade teacher Nikki Davenport is the advisor to the JP Birders. Most of the kids in the after-school club are in 4th, 5th and 6th grade. But, kids from all grades at the elementary school can join.

In turn, the JP Birders are a part of a unique school program called LIONS. That stands for Local Investigation Of Natural Science. It is a collaboration between the U City School District and Washington University and the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Among the LIONS activities will be a two-week summer program in June and three or four Saturday morning activities.

One of the JP Birders activities the 10th annual Great Backyard Bird Count last February.

The kids found a total of 22 different species of birds on the school grounds and in their backyards.

Ms. Davenport acknowledged there are fewer bird species in the winter. But, she said, "The ones who are here are easier to find because there aren't any leaves on the trees."

Most JP Birder members have bird feeders at home. But, Mia Phillips isn't one of them.

She said, "I can't have a bird feeder at home because my cat would eat the birds." But, she's worked out a special way to get food to birds in her neighborhood. "My neighbor said I could put the bird feed in her yard," Mia said.

The Science Fair project Mia and Ellie Turner designed involved a number of bird feeders painted different colors. Some were dull colors but others were bright ones.

Asked about which color attracted the most birds, Ellie said, "The dull green one." She said the two kids had a theory that the smaller birds liked the green one because it blended into the surrounding scenery.

"That way, if hawks fly overhead, the smaller birds won't be so noticeable," she said.

Mackenzie Young started with the bird club three years ago after his family moved to University City. "The club helped me get involved with kids at my new school," he said.

Mackenzie said he has three bird feeders at home. He said, "Sometimes, the birds eat so much I have to go to the store to buy more."

Ten-year-old Ketan Jain-Poster is a 5th grader at Jackson Park school. He said he has three bird feeders at home. "I used to have five but squirrels got the other two," he said.

Other kids complained about squirrels getting into their birdseeds.

Ellie Turner had an answer to that. "One of my friends told me to put chili hot peppers in with the bird seed. The birds eat only the seeds but the squirrels don't like the peppers."

Ten-year-old Terrionne Young is a 5th grader at Jackson Park School. Recently, he got an unexpected bird bonus.

"I've got a new bird's nest right next to my window at home," he said.

The kids also keep track of birds that aren't native to the Midwest. They either have seen then on trips to the Saint Louis Zoo or have looked them up in reference materials.

Mackenzie Smith said his favorite bird is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. "They are almost extinct now but they recently found one in Arkansas," he said.

Ketan Jain-Poster said his favorite bird is the kookaburra. That's a small, colorful bird from Australia that certainly can make a lot of noise. It's "singing" is usually described as sounding like "uncontrolled human laughter."

Mia Phillips and Terrionne Young said liked two birds that can't fly. Mia likes the ostrich. She saw one during a visit to the Zoo. Terrionne also saw his favorite, the penguin, on a zoo visit. He added, "I also saw a movie about penguins."

The kids like to keep up with news about new birds.

Ellie Turner mentioned a recent news story about Horned Guan birds that recently came to the Saint Louis Zoo. The birds from Mexico were brought to the Zoo in an effort to set up a breeding plan for the scarce birds.