160 | ENQUIRING MINDS, LUCA USIETO

160

ENQUIRING MINDS

Young Birder – Luca Usieto

Photos and text by Stefan Rust

2013

(In terms of the Geneva Convention the copyright of these texts belongs to Stefan Rust)

When an excited Luca e-mailed me via his parents that he observed two Monteiro Hornbills in their bird friendly garden and enquiring what he can do to get them as regular visitors to their wild bird feeding station, I didn’t hesitate for a second to pay him a visit the next day.

It was obvious that Luca was very excited about having had these big birds as visitors to his bird feeding station. Some of the readers might remember Luca. Being seven years old, he is the youngest person having received a Bird & Birder Friendly Award from BirdsConTour for his and his families input in bird conservation. This happened in June this year (article no. 94 “Youngest Bird & Birder Friendly Awardee” in Birds in Words under www.birdscontour.blogspot.com).

BirdsConTour, together with Luca and his father, set up a feeding tray where larger birds such as hornbills can easily land and sit to feed on a special prepared porridge on it. Also a nest was hanged up in the families’ bird and birder friendly garden to attract the Red-headed Finches to start breeding in it. What can be more exciting for a young child and the whole family than a breeding pair of birds right in front of the doorstep?

Hopefully by beginning of next year things will be sorted to accommodate Luca in the Young Birder project.

The idea for the Young Birder project was born out of the realization that there is a continuing quest by children to know more about birds and the way they live. Hence Young Birders, which has the goal to encourage birding enthusiasts of the future on a long and exciting quest to learn more about the fascinating birdlife. Young Birders project is for all children, whether they live in a city, a town or in a rural area, and I hope many more children, because all children have enquiring minds, will join Young Birders and take up one of the most popular and rewarding pastimes.