Project FeederWatch is in full swing at Grange Insurance Audubon Center and students from Columbus City Schools are getting a front-row seat to the wonders of community science. Through our Conservation Classroom program, young learners are not just observing nature—they’re contributing to real scientific research.

A Hands-On Experience in Nature

Conservation Classroom is an immersive, nature-based field trip experience designed for Columbus City School students. Each classroom visits the center three times throughout the school year to explore topics like bird migration, native habitat, and the importance of biodiversity.

Led by Grange Insurance Audubon’s lead educator Anne Scott, students get their hands dirty planting native trees, removing invasive honeysuckle—and most recently, participating in Project FeederWatch. 

Turning Birdwatching into Science

What better way to learn about common Ohio birds than watching bird feeders? Project FeederWatch turns the simple act of feeding birds into scientific discoveries. This citizen science project, organized by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada, is a November through April study of birds that visit backyards, nature centers, and other community areas. FeederWatch is a unique monitoring tool for more than 100 bird species that winter in North America, helping scientists understand factors like long-term trends in species distribution and expansions or contractions in the winter ranges of feeder birds.

During each Conservation Classroom session in the winter and early spring, students gather at the Grange Insurance Audubon library to view the feeders that border our sensory garden and native prairies.

Armed with bird guides and data journals, they work together to spot and identify birds—tracking plumage, beak shape, and size—and record the highest number of each species they see.

Some of our most frequent feathered visitors this season? House Finches, House Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows, and Downy Woodpeckers. One memorable day, students witnessed a Red-shouldered Hawk swoop in for a meal—then perch triumphantly on our roof!

Inspiring the Next Generation of Conservationists

This season, Conservation Classroom students submitted 22 bird species to our FeederWatch data, with a total of 9 separate counts. By participating in Project FeederWatch, these young scientists are building observation skills, learning how data contributes to conservation, and forming a deeper connection to nature. Programs like Conservation Classroom are opening doors for curiosity and learning in nature, helping grow the next generation of environmental stewards—one bird count at a time.