Why don't we learn this anymore?

[sweatyshower]

I was chatting with my grandad and he said when he was a child he'd try to find the full set of birds eggs. He said that they learnt about native/ lical birds and their eggs at school.
how lovely! I wish I had learnt that. the little I know if from him And my nan teaching us but I didn't think they'd learn about birds at school.

He said him and his mates would break into the old disused mill and look at all the birds eggs. Some were green / blue / spotted. He knew the names of all the birds and what their eggs looked like.

I really think that would be really nice to know. bring it back!

that should say local!

Sadly kids are more interested in computer games and social media theses days.
It was a more simple way of life prior to screen life.

Wouldn’t kids just throw the eggs from the nest or try to cook them?

I’m pretty sure the birds would appreciate their eggs being left alone, rather than kids messing about, breaking and stealing them.
It’s also illegal to take wild bird eggs now.

Learning about nature was part of my primary school education too. I don't remember bird eggs but I remember learning more about trees and flowers than my kids did in their 2000s primary education.

Yes, that's illegal and uncivilised so maybe not. Leave them alone and get a book.

pretty harsh he was just a child!
anyway he did say that you'd be hard pushed to get a book when he was a child. Nan said they didn't even have enough cups for everyone never mind luxuries like books.
They were war babies though.

I don't agree with disturbing birds nests but even I used to try to climb and see nests up close and I was a 90s child.
He said him and his friends used to try to get the set. Sort of tick off what you've seen.

He said there's nothing like a herons egg omelette, garnished with kitten whiskers and puppy paws for after. it was the 40s after all 🤣

My dad had a couple of interesting older friends when we were kids. I remember one was an expert on British birds and taught me and my sister loads. He could recognise every bird song and imitate himself, so well the birds would sing back at him! Another elderly friend was an expert in British wild flowers and taught us to pick one of each, press and preserve them in special books and write a passage about each one. It was a fab hobby that I carried through to my teen years. I've tried to pass as much as I can onto my kids.

Boy Scouts? There's a local Forrest near me that do all sorts of outdoorsy stuff

Forrest school that should say

As a childminder I take my mindees including schoolies on walks talk about the plants, animals etc....most adults say how do you know what that is? Primary schools do go out looking at plants and insects but once a year isn't going to teach a child to know what they are looking at....parents need to get out in nature with nets magnifying glasses and classification charts to help their kids identify stuff and leave the phones and tablets alone. The number out walking in woods pushing children sat looking at phones is mad.

You're not supposed to pick wild flowers now as there are so few and we're losing species.

Because we live in a world where time is better used educating children on skills that will serve them in later life than teaching them about bird eggs.

A primary school day atarts at say 9am and goes on until approx 3.30pm
In that time, they have to, by law, be taught English, maths. Spelling, handwriting, science. History. Geography. French (or another mfl) music, art. Design and technology, r.e. , p.e and pshe.

Perhaps learning about local birds and their eggs could be an activity to do with mum and dad at home?

This was taught in a time when "birds nesting" was a hobby for kids and they wouldn't just look at the eggs usually, they would take them, "blow" them (make a small hole and blow out the contents) and keep them in collections.

These days, this is illegal and we are not encouraged to disturb birds nests in any way. So that's why it isn't taught.

They learn a certain amount about nature (bird eggs is a bit obscure and an awful lot of kids live in areas where you really aren’t going to find a herons egg, or much beyond pigeons….) but there’s a hell of a lot of other stuff they need to fit in these days. I’d say learning about computing, a foreign language, sex and relationships etc etc all more important than one niche area of nature.

It wasn't ever taught in schools in any case, although it might have been in Scouts.

It’s exactly the sort of thing that used to be taught in schools before we had a national curriculum, when teachers were left to their own devices and could follow the needs and interests of their class.

We were always taught never to disturb a birds nest as it’s cruel. Lots of people enjoy bird spotting though.

We absolutely should be encouraging children to connect with nature more than we do. There is now a Natural History GCSE and the popularity of Forest School is marvellous. Time in nature is good for us all, exercise, mental wellbeing, many interesting things to learn and now as the biodiversity and climate crisis worsen it is more vital than ever that the younger generations understand the natural world, ecosystem services and how nature supports all aspects of our lives and economies. Collecting bird eggs has been illegal for a long time as it was a key driver in reduced populations, especially for rarer species. There are many other activities that can connect people with nature in less destructive ways, the rspb garden birdwatch for one. But you're absolutely right in the sentiment that encouraging wonder in the natural world is good for both people and planet.

I think if you spoke to any teacher about this they would tell you everything they have to cram into a school day and explain that they couldn't possibly spend hours and hours out of school with the children, showing them eggs.

It's something parents could do with their children, not schools.

This. It's illegal for a good reason. I can't understand why you think it's a good thing

Disturbing birds’ nests is a bad thing, and even climbing up trees to look at them is disturbing them.

We learned about this at school and went on a trip to the bird reserves to learn more, we loved it.