Gone to the Birds Mystery Cache

When someone says something has, “Gone to the Birds,” they are implying that it has become worthless. But why? This is a fun, quizzical, and quirky little mystery cache that probably won’t help make any sense out of that odd little phrase. But we’re hoping you will enjoy this mystery cache nonetheless, and we designed it in hopes that some kids will give it a whirl. Here's what you do:

1. The physical container is not at the posted coordinates, but the posted coordinates are a great place to park, and the cache isn’t too far from there. The actual coordinates can be found before you set out by completing the remaining steps below.

2. Start by finding the names of 20 different US states hidden in the word search for this puzzle (picture attached). These can be hidden horizontally, vertically, diagonally, forward or backward. Be sure to check the hint before finalizing your list of states.

3. Make a list of the official state birds for all 20 states that you found in the word search. Look this up in a birding book, Google, or any other source.

4. If any of your state birds have more than one word in their names, remove the words that act like descriptive adjectives before or after the main bird name so that each bird name has only one word. Most of these adjectives are things like colors, directions, state or city names, plants, or just plain adjectives. If the bird name is already a single word that contains an embedded adjective, do not remove the adjective. For example, "Common Loon" should be reduced to "Loon." "Western Meadowlark" should be reduced to "Meadowlark." "Purple Finch" should be reduced to "Finch." But "Bluebird" should remain "Bluebird" since it is already a single word.

5. Put the 20 unique bird names in the crossword puzzle for this puzzle (picture attached). Be strategic! For example, just because a bird’s name has 4 letters does not mean it will fit in any 4-letter space. To complete the puzzle, each bird name will fit in one and ONLY one correct place.

6. Once the crossword puzzle is complete, find the boxes that contain both a letter and a number. Replace the letter with its corresponding number in the following coordinates:

   N        C Q ˚  N T . Q W F’

   W  M T W ˚  P R . R  B  C’