Birdwatching Bingo: How Children and Birds shared a morning in the forest?

"I’ve crossed 13 boxes!" shouted the youngest participant at the camp - a little girl bursting with excitement. Her joy was met with a loud cheer and applause. She had just won the bingo game, played in pairs with adults, mostly parents, out in the forest.

It was a cold morning. Aranya forest was wide awake and renewed by the late-night shower. With the chorus of bird calls, wind-swept branches, and damp leaves, a bunch of enthusiastic children stepped onto the trail. They walked down the rough forest path made of pebbles, fallen leaves, and red sand. As they watched each step, they were also deeply immersed in their surroundings - eyes wide, bingo sheets ready, and pencils sharpened.

Soon, a bird call rang out. One of the children, certain it came from a bird, quickly crossed off the bird call box in the bingo sheet. They didn’t know it was the white-browed bulbul singing from the canopy. Moments later, a different sound echoed through the trees, a mix of sharp chirps and melodious whistles. The children paused. They looked up, asked each other, and even asked me, “Whose call is that?” Some tried to mimic it. Their excitement only grew when I didn’t tell them the bird’s name, instead asking them to listen carefully and observe. It was the black drongo who had them hooked, switching between calls like a forest performer.

We crossed a denser patch of forest and reached a shallow pond, holding a little water from last night’s rain. Near the bank, camouflaged in the bushes, a small hen-like bird moved cautiously. Dark on the outside, white beneath, it blended in perfectly. But one girl spotted it, called the others, and proudly struck off bird on the ground. A few more managed to see it before it disappeared into the bushes. It was the white-breasted waterhen.

Elsewhere, a pair stood motionless, eyes fixated on a green bird darting through the air. They had clearly forgotten the bingo for a moment. The bird's flight was swift, graceful, and purposeful as it caught flies mid-air. They thought it might be a drongo, but it was the blue-tailed bee-eater. “Why is blue in its name?” they asked. “It looks all green!” They tried using binoculars to catch a glimpse of the tail, but the bird never rested. It was dancing in the mid-air doing all sorts of acrobatics, luring the children.

Just then, a child ran up to me. “I saw a dragonfly! Is that bird food?” 
I asked her, “Have you seen any bird eat one?”
She nodded. “Yes! A black bird with a long tail, shaped like a ‘V’. I have seen it near my home.” She was describing the drongo, and I was astonished by her observation.

There was a sudden flutter of movement, a quick shuffle, then they went back. They were too loud and we even joked about adding a new box to the bingo sheet: “Us staying silent.” We wondered it could help keep the group quieter next time. However, I couldn’t help but wonder that the birds didn’t seem too concerned. In fact, it felt as if they were enjoying the children’s presence, responding in their own quiet, mysterious ways.

Other children were checking off different boxes—bird on a wire, black bird. One pair had found a nest low enough to peer into. “Is there an egg?” one of them asked. The other leaned closer. “Can’t see anything.” They struck off the box – bird home.

As they remained absorbed in the activity, I called out, “Last 2 minutes!”

Toward the end, the youngest girl found a feather on the forest floor. She held it up and ticked off another box. “Whose feather is this?” she asked me. It looked like it belonged to a pigeon, but I wasn’t sure. She smiled, tucked it into her pocket, and kept it as a soft souvenir of a morning well spent.

Back at the hall, everyone regrouped for the debrief. They began sharing their thoughts:
“Bird with long legs was tough to find.”
“I couldn’t spot any bird carrying food.”
“Was that really bird droppings… or just leaf dirt?”
“The white bird? I didn’t see any!”

Just then, the youngest girl raised her hand. “I saw a white bird! It looked like a dove. It was sitting on a wire near the start of the trail.”
The others turned to her, surprised and a little amazed. They had missed it.

She beamed, holding her bingo sheet tightly. “That was my 13th box.”

And just like that, the story circled back to where it began.

“I’ve crossed 13 boxes!” she said again—this time not just with excitement, but with quiet pride.

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p.s. Thanks to Outdoor Being for the opportunity to spend a joyful morning with children in the forest. It was a gift to be part of this nature camp and share in their wonder.

p.p.s. The bingo sheet we used is a lovely resource from early bird. You can explore more of their materials by visiting their website—it's full of treasures for anyone excited about birding with children.