How to play:

1. Mark out a rectangular pitch, ideally around 20x20m.
2. Each corner is one nest, and in the middle is the feeding ground.
3. Divide into five groups, the first four groups are birds who will fly back to their own nests, plus a fifth group who will be the rats.
4. To feed their chicks, birds have to fly to the feeding ground and then take the fish back to their nests.
5. While the birds are away, the rats are trying to eat the chicks from the nest. If a rat successfully gets into a nest, those birds are out.
6. One bird on the nest can protect the nest from one rat, but not two rats.
7. The teacher blows a whistle every 10-20 seconds, which means at least one bird has to go to the feeding grounds or the chicks get hungry.
8. The rats need to get into one nest every 2 minutes or they starve and are out.
9. The rats and birds have to defend themselves while making sure they all get enough food

Last species standing wins!

Things to try:

• Try changing the size of the pitch, is a long distance more tiring to cover? Seabirds have to fly further to find fish because of human impacts on the sea.
• The birds can choose what kinds of seabird they are, but only if they do an impression while they fly.
• Try changing the number of rats and birds. Is it easier or harder to defend the nest with more birds?