The Listening Grove · The Burgess Bird Book for Children
Chapter 11: Drummers and Carpenters
A Charlotte Mason nature-study lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is The Burgess Bird Book for Children Chapter 11, Drummers and Carpenters, about?Parent review
Chapter 11, Drummers and Carpenters, meets the true woodpeckers, the carpenters of the bird world. Downy the Downy Woodpecker, smallest of all, drums on a hollow limb and chisels out both insects and a snug nest hole. Hairy the Hairy Woodpecker looks almost exactly like Downy, but is larger with a longer bill. Redhead the Red-headed Woodpecker wears a whole hood of scarlet. Peter learns how a woodpecker's stiff tail, strong bill, and clinging feet make it perfectly built to hammer and climb, and how the holes they cut become homes for many other birds.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last chapter.
What happened in the previous chapter of The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Redwing and Yellow Wing?Have a look
In Chapter 10, Redwing and Yellow Wing, Peter met Redwing the Red-winged Blackbird, who sings from the bulrushes of the Smiling Pool with scarlet on his shoulders, and Yellow Wing the Flicker, a ground-feeding woodpecker who flashes gold under his wings and eats ants.
Back to the previous lesson: Redwing and Yellow Wing →Show what you know!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Fill in the vocabulary you know, then click to check your work and learn some new words today.
What are the difficult or advanced vocabulary words in The Burgess Bird Book for Children Chapter 11, Drummers and Carpenters?bounded, precisely, tremendous, carpenter, scarlet, occasional, variety, guilty, benefit, chatterboxHave a look
- bounded: Moved forward with a series of long, springy leaps, covering ground lightly.
- precisely: Exactly, in every detail, without any change or variation; not approximately.
- tremendous: Extremely large, powerful, or impressive; far beyond ordinary.
- carpenter: A skilled builder or shaper of wood; someone who makes, repairs, or hollows out wooden structures.
- scarlet: A vivid, intense shade of red, brighter and more striking than ordinary red.
- occasional: Happening now and then, only once in a while; not regular or predictable.
- variety: A range of different kinds or types; an assortment rather than one thing repeated.
- guilty: Showing a secret awareness of having done wrong; looking ashamed or caught out.
- benefit: Something that helps, improves, or advantages a person; a gain from another's action.
- chatterbox: A person who talks at great length and almost without stopping.
The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to Chapter 11 of The Burgess Bird Book for Children, the Kindred Thicket Revised Edition.
Read by Kindred Thicket, from the Kindred Thicket Revised Edition. The plain accuracy notes that explain each correction come with the Complete Companion Guide.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the Response Resource* to remember and spell tricky names. Choose one way to narrate.
*Materials in the Lesson Guide.
What is the list of names, people, characters, birds, and places that are important in Chapter 11 of The Burgess Bird Book for Children?Downy, Hairy, Redhead, Yellow Wing, Sammy JayHave a look
- Downy: The Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens), the smallest woodpecker, black and white with a short bill, who drums on limbs and chisels snug nest holes.
- Hairy: The Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus), almost a twin of Downy but noticeably larger, with a longer, stouter bill.
- Redhead: The Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), boldly patterned in black and white with an entire head of bright scarlet.
- Yellow Wing: The Northern Flicker, the ground-feeding woodpecker Peter met in the last chapter.
- Sammy Jay: The Blue Jay, and Blacky the Crow, noisy onlookers in the orchard.
Chapter 11 Q & A
A few questions families ask about this chapter and its birds.
How do you tell a Downy from a Hairy Woodpecker?
They look almost identical, black and white with the male's red nape patch, but the Hairy Woodpecker is distinctly larger with a longer, heavier bill about as long as its head is wide, while the Downy is small with a short, dainty bill.
How is a woodpecker built for climbing and drumming?
It has stiff, pointed tail feathers to brace against the trunk, strong clinging feet with toes facing both ways, a chisel-like bill, and a shock-absorbing skull, so it can hammer, climb, and hitch up a tree with ease.
Why are woodpeckers important to other birds?
Because they are the carpenters that excavate nest holes in trees. When they move on, their old holes become homes for chickadees, nuthatches, swallows, kestrels, and many others, so a whole community depends on the woodpeckers' work.
What is the Red-headed Woodpecker known for?
Its entire bright-scarlet head, set off by a bold black-and-white body, one of the most striking of all woodpeckers. Unlike most, it often catches insects in the air and stores acorns and nuts in bark crevices.