Abby, a Park Ridge resident and senior at Loyola Academy, was given a challenging final project assignment in her honors Native American Literature class.
“We [were] given the opportunity to come up with ideas on how to inform any part of Native American culture to our peers and elsewhere.” In class, they read the novel ‘The Round House’ by Louise Erdrich, in which an underlying theme is the importance of birds in tribal cultures.
Abby researched the birds in Park Ridge, and found seven birds including the House Sparrow, Pileated Woodpecker, Common Starling, Brown Thrasher, Great Horn Owl, American Crow and the Eastern Bluebird. She learned all have symbolism in the Native American culture.
“I’m so excited to contribute my birdwatching research to the Exploration Library’s collection,” Abby said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to share my findings with the community and hopefully spark an interest in others to look more closely at the natural world around them. I hope it encourages more people to connect with nature and appreciate the birds in our area.”
Abby’s research is now compiled in a brochure included with our new birdwatching kit, available in our Exploration Library collection. Thank you, Abby, for taking your project a step further and sharing your research with us!
