A moment of curiosity outside a classroom window has blossomed into a yearlong research and media project for three Mahopac High School students. Sophomore Cole Orofino and freshmen Niko Thanos and Alex Zamrzla – students in Tom Donahoe’s Earth Science class – have spent the school year observing and documenting bird activity at feeders just outside their second-floor classroom.
Their casual interest in the birds visiting the feeder, sparked in November, quickly evolved into a hands-on scientific and creative project, combining elements of wildlife observation, livestream technology, photography and science communication.
The three students began their project by setting up a livestream camera to monitor feeder activity in real time. They even installed a light on a timer to observe nighttime visitors, often mourning doves and finches. To promote the livestream, the students created a poster to raise awareness among classmates and encourage others to tune in.
“I enjoyed seeing the different species who visited the feeder at night,” Orofino said.
Zamrzla said he looked forward to reviewing the footage every morning to catch glimpses of the birds, such as mourning doves, that came and went.
Later in the year the students photographed birds with their mobile phones, eventually upgrading to a camera Thanos brought in. They documented their findings and shared high-quality photos on the Earth Science class’s Instagram account, @esmhs, giving their classmates a front-row seat to their observations.
“Cole, Niko and Alex not only made connections to our Earth Science curriculum by observing which birds visited the feeder during the various seasons, but they also learned important lessons about problem-solving,” Donahoe said. “It was impressive to watch them take initiative and innovate as the year went by.”
One example of that innovation came when they encountered an unexpected challenge: suet left behind by birds often blurred their view through the window closest to the feeder. Since the windows on the second floor were difficult to clean, the students adjusted by shifting to a different angle and using a more distant, cleaner window to continue their photography.
“We are definitely interested in continuing this project next year, but we might make a few changes,” Thanos said. “We’ve thought about moving the camera for clearer shots or building something like a piece of plastic with a cutout for the lens. I’d really like to try setting up part of the feeder indoors.”
So far, the students have identified a range of bird species visiting the feeders, including American goldfinches, black-capped chickadees, blue jays, cardinals, European starlings, house finches, house sparrows, tufted titmice and several species of woodpeckers.
What started out as simple observations of the birds outside their window turned into a lasting example of student-driven learning in action.
