1. Do you like birds? Why or why not?
2. What is your favorite bird? Show me a picture.
3. What birds annoy you?
4. What birds are considered a nuisance in your area?
5. What are some characteristics of birds? (i.e. they have wings, feathers, beaks, lay eggs)
6. What do you know about the different kinds of birds’ beaks and their use?
7. What do you know about the different kinds of birds’ feet and their use?
8. Which birds are flightless? What do they use for protection, hunting/foraging, and getting around besides flight?
9. What kinds of things are feathers used in? (i.e. pillows, crafts, hats)
10. List some kinds of birds. (i.e. eagle, hummingbird, flamingo, hawk, robin, loom, owl, crow, parrot, pigeon/dove, lark, stork, woodpeckers)
11. What birds are common in your hometown?
12. What birds are common in the place you live now?
13. Choose a type of bird and answer the following questions:
a. Describe its appearance.
b. Where does it live? Describe its habitat. What makes that habitat perfect for this bird?
c. Describe its nest.
d. Describe the appearance of the eggs.
e. What are its young called?
f. What do they eat?
g. What interesting facts do you know about it? What is unique about it?
h. How does it interact with humans?
i. Where does it migrate? Or what does it do in the winter?
j. What sound does it make? (i.e. hum, chatter, coo, sing, caw, whistle, chirp)
j. Do people eat it? What is a good recipe that it’s in?
l. What are some of its natural predators?
m. Is it nocturnal or diurnal?
n. How long does it usually live?
14. What is a group of this bird called? (i.e. a group of owls is a parliament)
15. Which birds are commonly eaten in your country?
16. How or where are poultry that is intended to be eaten raised in your country?
17. Which kinds of birds would you refuse to eat? Why?
18. Would you eat balut (a fertilized bird egg)? Why or why not?
19. What are all the different ways to eat eggs? (i.e. scrambled, poached, hard boiled)
20. Which birds do you think are smart?
21. Which birds can learn to talk?
22. Which birds have the best eyesight?
23. What is your national bird? Why was it chosen?
24. What traditions or customs in your country that feature birds? Eggs?
25. Did you know that the fastest animal in the world is a bird? What can you tell me about this bird? What kind is it? How fast can it go?
26. Have you ever had birds as pets?
27. Has a bird every pooped on you?
28. What stereotypes or superstitions do you have about birds? (i.e. storks bring babies, owls are wise, crows are bad luck, robins are associated with spring, if a bird poops on you it’s good luck)
29. What famous characters (in books, movies, or folklore) are birds?
30. Share some idioms about birds. (i.e. He eats like a bird. She watches him like a hawk. 31. He is as helpless as a little bird. I am as happy as a lark. She chatters like a parrot. They are like two love birds. He will soar like an eagle. She is as proud as a peacock. I feel as free as a bird.)
32. What are some ways people get involved with birds?
33. Describe birding. What do you need to have in order to do this? What does it involve? (i.e. binoculars and guide books)
34. What can we learn about human nature from watching birds? (i.e. fighting, singing, mothering, fathering, protection)
35. Describe having a bird as a pet. What do you need to have in order to do this? What does it involve? (i.e. cages, bird feed)
36. Describe fortune telling with birds. What do you need to have in order to do this? What does it involve? (i.e. parrots, slips of paper)
37. Describe falconry. What do you need to have in order to do this? What does it involve? (i.e. hood, glove)
38. Describe hunting birds. What do you need to have in order to do this? What does it involve? (i.e. guns, camouflage clothing, hunting dog)
39. Describe trapping birds. What do you need to have in order to do this? What does it involve? (i.e. nets, traps, bait)
40. Describe having birdhouses. What do you need to have in order to do this? What does it involve? (i.e. birdhouses, hanging from posts, trees or the house)
41. Do you have birds that nest at your house? Where? Do you like or dislike this?
Do you feed birds? Where? How? Why?
42. Tell me what you know about pigeon racing.
43. Tell me what you know about show birds.
44. What kinds of birds would you see in a zoo?
45. Where in history were birds important? (i.e. carrier pigeons delivering secret messages, birds sounding the alarm of attacks)
46. Share a story you know that has a bird in it.
47. What roles do birds usually play in stories? (maybe representing freedom, a guide, an omen)
48. Show some books about birds in your country if you have some.
49. What artwork do you know of that depicts birds?
50. Which birds are rare or extinct?
51. What facts do you know about birds or some different types of birds?
52. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
53. What colors for birds are your favorite?
54. What’s the longest time a bird has remained in your house?