What Bird Am I? Board Game

Love this game! It was good addition to our bird study.

Beautiful pictures and great information on birds. Has a beginner, intermediate and expert levels. Great for young bird lovers just beginning to identify birds.

We gave it to our grandson as a gift. He and his mother enjoy it very much.

My husband and I are avid birders and so when I saw this game I was hopeful that it would be something fun for us to play together I wondered if it would be specific enough for actual birders to enjoy or would it give a generic or even incorrect treatment to the subject of birds? (You'd be surprised how many trivia games give false information about birds!)I'm glad to say that this game met our needs! This is basically a card-based trivia game but all about North American birds (from the US and Canada) Take note that this game is not geared toward Western or Eastern North America but includes both so my husband and I are getting out of our Eastern comfort zone and are learning about Western birds as we play! We also live inland and there is a good amount of sea bird info here which is also helpful to us for coastal trips The box is attractive and compact and the 300 cards are beautiful and feel sturdy The bird photographs are lovely! Although the game is described as a "board game " there is no board and it is a card game only Scoring is accomplished by a reader giving clues to the answerer with different point values for the number of clues needed to get the right answer There is a nice little scoring pad and a wee stubby pencil included as well as clear directions for game play There are three levels of difficulty (Beginner Intermediate and Expert) and the players each determine their level beforehand and only draw from that deck Although the game says it is for ages 14 and up it really can be played by younger children if they are well-versed in birds our 6 year old daughter can play on the level of beginning adults (but she doesn't get a turn being the reader) Ignore the age limit if you have a young child who is interested in birds! The Beginner deck includes birds that could truly stump non-birding adults but of course part of this game is in the teaching of birds Any game which has 100 different species of birds at Beginner level is going to have birds that the average person will just not know But there are just enough commonly known birds to allow most people to play without too much frustration I would suggest that if you have more than a passing familiarity with birds and are playing against friends or family who have little knowledge please play at a higher level to even it up even if you feel like a "Beginner" yourself! Here is a sample card for Beginners Each clue is worth less points as more clues are revealed so I will label the clues 5-1 due to point value with the 5 point question asked first Players get a guess at each point level 5) I am a black bird and am often mistaken for a small duck 4) I pump my head back and forth when swimming 3) Look at the picture What bird am I? 2) Note my bright white bill 1) I am not a Common Moorhen (The answer is American Coot)So that is the easiest level of play It helps to show that indeed this can be a challenging game for the novice birder! I also noticed birds like Snowy Owl Yellow-rumped Warbler Red-tailed Hawk Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the Beginner deck to name a few No generic answers like "swan" or "hawk" even here at the easiest level of play! As I said our daughter can play at this level but she has been around bird-talk and has looked through field guides (for fun!) all her life Even for her we sometimes might give an extra clue or two such as pointing out a field mark or if she was stumped with a bird that has "northern" or something in its name we might tell her that the name includes a direction (A whole bunch of North American birds have "Northern" or "American" in their names although they are not commonly used by the public such as "Northern Mockingbird" or "American Robin") The Intermediate level has cards of slightly harder difficulty in some ways because the birds tend to be more obscure but also because the clues may be more difficult or rearranged in their point value (the picture clue is often given later) Glancing through the Intermediate box I see cards for Common Goldeneye Northern Parula American Bittern Indigo Bunting you get the idea When we had exhausted the Expert box my husband and I began playing at this level and it was still fun and informative The Expert box has not only some tough and obscure birds but also harder clues It includes birds like the Alder Flycatcher Phainopepla Wilson's Warbler Red-throated Loon Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl etc If you had no idea what any of the above birds listed might possibly be this game may just frustrate you But if you love birds or just want to learn about them this is an excellent game! Your success is going to vary also depending on what sort of birding you enjoy or have access to such as to whether you are familiar with obscure little migrant warblers or if you are near a wintering waterfowl refuge or if you happen to live near the coast and know your seabirds I'm not very good at guessing from written descriptions of the habits of warblers and songbirds but my husband is because he reads about these more often I do a little better with water birds because I browse through these areas of the field guides more often Each person has a chance to use his or her strengths This game would be a great addition to a unit study on birds or to accompany a course such as Apologia's Zoology 1 "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day" or something similar This is an enjoyable game for us in all aspects except that with 8 rounds of play per game 2 or 3 players in each game and only 300 cards soon we will be going over the same cards again That may not be such a bad thing in the end as it will surely sharpen our skills and especially teach us our Western birds for future trips that direction! Really there is an abundance of fun here for the bird-minded and much to learn for the bird-curious Friends or family who aren't "into" birds may enjoy playing this game and seeing what makes birds so fascinating for those of us who love them And you know Jesus told us to "Look at the birds" (Matthew 6:26)