How much can you learn about a bird from just one photo? Quite a lot, if the photo’s beauty inspires you to look beyond one initial glance. That’s exactly what I hope the Beautiful Birds screensaver will do.
Bird Photography as a Relaxing Background or a Learning tool
While the free TV screensaver can be a relaxing natural respite on your Roku, Amazon Fire, and Android devices, it can be so much more. Whether you’re already familiar with birds or just learning about their amazing diversity, there are many lessons to learn from these bird photos.
The easiest lesson is to name the bird in each photo. Some may be very familiar backyard species, while others are exotic birds from around the world. If you can’t quite name the bird, try to name the type of bird – is it a parrot, hummingbird, duck, raptor, or finch? The more photos you see, the more you will notice similarities between types of birds and you’ll be able to tell which type is which.
Get Kids into Birding with Bird Photography
Younger viewers may not be able to name species as aptly, but there is still much to learn from every photo. Try naming birds’ colors, or pointing out different parts such as the bill, tail, eyes, and talons. Even these simple exercises can help youngsters notice more details about birds.
Looking beyond the birds is another way to learn more about each of these beautiful photos. Instead of focusing solely on the bird, note other details, such as flowers, moss, branches, fruit, or insects. This attention to detail will help you learn more about each bird and the habitat it prefers as well as sharpen your observational skills when you see birds in person. You can also note what each bird is doing, whether it is feeding, preening, or singing.
Using Bird Photography as Inspiration
Going beyond the screensaver will help you dive into a whole new world of beautiful birds. Once you’ve seen a specific bird on the screensaver, search for that bird on the website and you will find even more photos of the species. You can see where the bird is from and what countries I’ve photographed it in, as well as its scientific classification and conservation status.
You can even use these beautiful photos as inspiration. Not only can birds inspire us to enjoy and preserve nature, but consider using individual photos as inspiration to write a poem, a story about the bird, or even a song to match its sweet melody. From just one photo, there’s no telling how much we can learn about a bird or where its beauty may lead us.
