1995 Brownie Badge Book - Birdwatcher Stage 1 Badge
1) Keep a list of birds which can be seen around your home during one month.
2) Keep a notebook on at least three bird-watching exhibitions and show this to the tester. The notebook should contain date, time, place, weather, which species of bird you saw, and what the birds were doing.
3) Talk to the tester about ways of watching birds without disturbing them.
4) Tell the tester how you can help birds in both summer and winter.
5) Find out if there is a club for young ornithologists in your area.
1995 Brownie Badge Book - Birdwatcher Stage 2 Badge
1) Show the tester the equipment you use for bird watching. Include clothing, and reference books and binoculars if you have them. Sow that you can use binoculars correctly.
2) Keep a notebook on at least ten bird-watching outings. Identify the birds you see, and observe and describe some bird behavior. Talk about your observations with the tester.
3) Make a simple chart showing the birds which you see around your home. Mark on the chart the months when you see them.
4) Draw a rough outline of a bird and mark on it the following parts: crown, back, rump, belly, breast, primaries, flank.
5) Be prepared to identify the pictures of ten species of birds common to your area.
6) Tell the tester about some local places where you go to watch birds, which species visit these places and which nest there.
1995 Brownie Badge Book - Birdwatcher 3 Badge
1) Demonstrate the use and care of your bird-watching equipment. Tell the tester about the bird books you use and how and when you use them. Ex[lain what is meant by the 'scientific order' which is used in most books.
2) Keep notes for at least six months on birds (and other wildlife) you see and interesting behavior you observe. Use illustrations as well as written notes. Show the notebook to the tester and discuss entries.
3) Carry out a simple survey of birds visiting a particular study area: your parish, a local park, or some other place you visit regularly. (An area larger than a garden is necessary). Your survey could be a series of counts, a census of birds during the breeding season, a line transect or some other generally accepted form of survey.
4) Draw the rough outline of a bird and mark on it the following parts: crown, rump, beak, belly, breast, primaries, flank, upper tail, coverts, tarsus speculum, supercilium, eye-stripe, nape, mantle, secondaries and wing coverts.
5) Demonstrate to the tester that you understand what is meant by migration. Explain the methods by which ornithologists have found out about birds' migration journeys.
Name five summer migrants and five winter migrants which you could reasonably expect to see in your local area.
6) Describe some British habitats and explain the threats to them. Which species of bird are endangered by these changes?
7) Describe how a nature reserve can be managed (looked after and developed) to make it more suitable for birds. Tell the tester about any reserves you have visited and your impressions of them.
1995 Brownie Badge Book - Birdwatcher Stage 4 Badge
1) Show the tester your bird-watching equipment, clothing and the books you find most useful. Discus why and when you use particular books. Explain the order in which species are generally placed. Also discuss the merits (or otherwise) of optical equipment. Explain the magnification of binoculars and the occasions when a telescope can be useful.
2) Show the tester your notebook(s) covering a full year's birdwatching. Illustrations and written notes about numbers and behavior should all be included. Discuss the excursions with the tester.
3) Be prepared to identify by sight 20 or more species, most of which are found in the United Kingdom, but also a few others which are only rare visitors or more commonly found in mainland Europe. Say which are resident, summer migrants, passage migrants, etc. Also, be prepared to identify or be asked to describe the songs and calls of not more than ten common species.
4) Carry out voluntary work on a bird reserve or nature reserve. Discuss with your tester the importance of the reserve for wildlife and give an account of your activities.
5) Choose five species of bird which are threatened in the United Kingdom. Discuss the threats and the possible solutions with the tester.
6) Discuss with the tester the various types of census and survey that amateurs can help with.
7) Use your knowledge of, and interest in, ornithology to help another person prepare for Stage 1 or Stage 2.