Birdwatching with your nestlings

Before my daughter was old enough to talk, she’d grunt and squeal and point whenever she saw a bird. For all the world, it seemed like she was crazy about birds, but I wondered if I was imagining it. Maybe, I thought, I was projecting my own interest in birds on her. Then my daughter started to talk, and one of her very first words was bird, and shortly thereafter she said owl. My daughter really did love birds — and, in fact, she still does. These days, at age 3, she likes to stand on one foot and pretend that she’s a flamingo.

I’ve come to understand that my daughter isn’t unusual — a lot of kids gravitate toward birds. And why wouldn’t they? Birds come in all colors of the rainbow and all shapes and sizes, and like fairies and airplanes, they fly! Plus, the lives of birds mirror the lives of humans, so little ones can relate when they see mommy and daddy birds teaching their babies, protecting them, or bringing food to them. Of course, kids — like adults — are all different, so maybe you have a youngster in your life who is so busy with trucks