Ernest Thompson Seton was a famous early American explorer, naturalist and writer, who described many things in detail by just watching like a hunter. He did a lot of his best learning by just sitting around. A great deal of a bird of prey's time is spent just sitting.

While they may look lazy, this loafing around serves the purpose of giving the bird opportunities to catch food. Sitting along a creek, river, or lake for a long period of time gives an eagle the chance to see more animals. Try it! See how many things you can see as a class by sitting still and quiet. Plan a field trip to a wild area and sit like a raptor. If you can sit in a tree or other high perch, all the better.

If a water area is not available for you to pretend you're an eagle, then sit over a brushy field and pretend you’re a Red-tailed Hawk, or a hayfield and pretend you’re a Kestrel, or a city lot and pretend you’re a Peregrine Falcon, or a wooded lot pretending you’re a Cooper’s Hawk. List how many things you see. Count all the things a class sees, and then guess at how they might be caught and who might do it. Remember things like size, speed and, ability; and try to guess at what might be the preferred foods of some of these raptors.