Birds word search, free printable with pictures
Ten birds of European gardens, rivers and coasts hidden in a 12 by 12 grid, with a drawing of each to colour. Page two has the answers and one short fact for every bird, with the page it comes from.
Two pages in each file: A4 67 kB, US Letter 67 kB. Free, with no account and no email address.
The words
The ten birds in the grid, with a fact for each.
ROBIN
Both male and female robins sing all year round, even in winter.
WREN
Weight for weight, the tiny wren sings ten times louder than a cockerel.
MAGPIE
Magpies can recognise themselves in a mirror, something only a few species are known to do.
HERONGrey heron
A grey heron can stand motionless in the shallows, waiting for a fish to come within reach.
SWALLOWBarn swallow
Barn swallows build their cup nests from pellets of mud carried in their beaks.
KINGFISHER
A kingfisher dives with its eyes open, shielded by a clear third eyelid.
OWLBarn owl
A barn owl hears so precisely that it does not need sight to hunt.
STORKWhite stork
An adult white stork's main sound is the clatter of its bill; its voice is only a faint hiss.
PUFFIN
A puffin can catch several small fish in one dive, holding the first ones with its tongue.
GOLDFINCH
Goldfinches use their tweezer-like bills to pull seeds out of thistles and teasels.
For teachers and parents
What is on the sheet, and how to use it.
- Grid
- 12 by 12 letters
- Names
- Ten to find, 3 to 10 letters long
- Directions
- across, down and diagonally, always forwards
- Pages
- the puzzle, then the answers with ten facts
- Paper
- A4 or US Letter; page 1 is line art and needs no colour printer
Who it suits. Our suggestion is children who already read short words on their own, roughly ages 7 to 11. Younger children can colour the drawings while an adult reads the names aloud. This is our suggestion, not a tested reading level.
How long it takes. We have not timed it with a class. The grid on its own is a short activity; the colouring and the facts on page 2 can stretch it to fill a lesson.
The grid has one word per name; where the full name is longer, the list on the sheet shows it under the word, for example HERON for grey heron.
In class or at home
- Print page 1 for each child, and page 2 once, for yourself or to share at the end.
- Read the names aloud and look at the drawings together before starting.
- Each child ticks a name in the list when it is found, then colours the drawings.
- Finish with page 2: read a fact or two aloud. Each fact names its Wikipedia page, so older children can look it up and read more.
Questions
Questions about this word search.
Is this birds word search free to print?
Yes. Both PDF files, A4 and US Letter, are free to download and print, with no account and no email address.
Where are the answers?
On page 2 of the same PDF: the grid with every name circled, the drawings in colour, and one short fact for each bird with the Wikipedia page it comes from. Print only page 1 if you want to keep the answers for later.
Which way do the words go?
Across, down and diagonally, always forwards, never backwards. Each of the ten names is in the grid exactly once; our program checks that before the file is made, and also checks that no rude word turns up among the filler letters.
Should I print A4 or US Letter?
Pick the paper in your printer: US Letter in the United States and Canada, A4 in most other countries. In the print dialog choose actual size or 100%.
More printables
Eight more word searches with pictures.
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Inventions word search
Minerals and gems word search
All nine on one page: free printable word searches. Or play Field Notes online, with the same drawings and facts in the browser and a new page every day.