Hey readers,
Chickadee reader Calla sent us this awesome animal art. Check it out!
Whoa, great work, Calla! We love that you drew your bird standing on one leg.
Did you know that birds do this to warm themselves up? They hide the other foot in their belly feathers to help keep it toasty. Way to fight the cold!
Readers, would you like to see your art on the Chickadee blog? Send it to chickadeeblog@owlkids.com.
Have a great weekend!
-Beckie, chickadeeblog@owlkids.com
Hey readers,
This week, Owlkids intern Sarah got a chance to talk to Pete Moss, a super-talented singer, songwriter, and outdoor educator. She asked him about his new song “Chickadee” from his next album Birds Rock, coming out in Fall 2021. Check out the interview below and then watch his brand-new music video!
Pete Moss. Photo by Hannah Davison.
Chickadee: What made you want to write a song about a chickadee?
Pete: Chickadees are like a “spark” bird. They’re so outgoing, so curious, so eccentric, and so adorable. It’s one of the first birds that people build a relationship with. Whether it eats out of their hand, or they just hear it singing “chick-a-dee-dee-dee.”
Chickadee: What are you hoping listeners take away from your song?
Pete: I hope it’s a “spark” song to help people have some interest in chickadees. Maybe they’ll want to wander into the forest or their local park and try to feed them. I tried to put in some facts I enjoy about chickadees in the song. One of them was that the number of “dees” in their call signifies the severity of the threat. If they go “chick-a-dee-dee-dee,” maybe it’s just a person walking by. But if they go “chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee,” maybe it’s a hawk or something.
Chickadee: What gave you the idea to combine your passion for music and your passion for the environment?
Pete: I was playing in an indie rock band, and I [am] an outdoor educator. I’m getting more in love with nature and more into the idea of combining those things. It was a joining of worlds that kind of felt too separate for no good reason. I can use the songs I create in my work as an outdoor educator, and I can use the knowledge that I gain as an outdoor educator to inform the song.
Chickadee: What do you love about teaching kids about the environment?
Pete: I think as an outdoor educator, you can really build relationships between children and things that can be easy to overlook, whether it’s a plant, a chipmunk, or a chickadee. The more you can play games and tell stories and introduce it as cool facts for them to pass on, the more they feel invested in it and the more they will want to care for it as they grow.
Chickadee: Do you have any advice for readers who want to become songwriters or musicians?
Pete: Anything can be a song, and anything can be an instrument. Some of the greatest joys that I’ve found through music was just making the silliest songs, where I’m not worried about how good it sounds or how good I’m playing. If you can find the right friends to make music with, even just by hitting a spoon on a radiator and making other funny sounds together, it really can be so joyful.
Chickadee: Are there going to be any bird calls on your new album?
Pete: There are so many bird calls on the album. There’s one song that’s going to teach a bunch of bird calls. I’m pulling a bunch of samples of bird songs and there’s going to be solos based off bird calls. That was very important because birds are musicians.
Thanks for chatting with Chickadee Magazine about “Chickadee”, Pete!
Now that you know more about Pete and his song “Chickadee,” you can check out the YouTube video right here. Enjoy!
Hey readers,
Did you know that many birds fly south to escape the winter and come back in the spring? This is called migration.
To celebrate World Migratory Bird Day, check out these fun facts that are all about birds!
Bye for now,
-Jenna, chickadee@owlkids.com
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.
Hey readers,
We have a fun new contest underway for the month of May! We’re giving away a hilarious mix-and-match game called Heads Talk Tails Walk.
Heads Talk Tails Walk comes equipped with several animal head and body tiles, and players have to try matching the correct pieces. But if players put the wrong pieces together (like frog legs with a chicken head), they have to hop like a frog and cluck like a chicken!
For a chance to WIN one of three games, tell us your favourite bird along with your name and age in the comments below.
Prize courtesy of ThinkFun.
Contest deadline: May 17, 2019
Click here for full contest rules and regs.
Good luck, everyone!
-Jenna, chirpblog@owlkids.com
Hey readers,
The Great Backyard Bird Count kicks off today! The event happens every year to help keep track of how many bird species are in the wild.
To participate in the bird count, spend 15 minutes looking for birds outside and counting each one you see. Then, make a list of how many species you saw.
Here are some examples of different birds you might see:
You can learn more about the Great Backyard Bird Count here. Are you going to participate? Let us know in the comments!
-Taylor, chickadeeblog@owlkids.com
