TOPICS: Birds, behavior, ecology
LEVEL: High school and advanced placement
TIME: One class period for data collection, 10 minutes to collate class data.
ADVANCE PREPARATION: One or two months in advance, two bird feeders should be set up side-by-side about 5 meters apart in similar settings where they can be easily observed by students. Feeders located near vegetation will attract more birds. Keep one feeder filled with finely cracked corn and the other filled with sunflower seeds. Sprinkle seeds below each feeder when feeder is filled. You may wish to have students practice identifying birds before doing the activity. (Many of the Non-game Wildlife Programs have published posters of birds that attend feeders. This would be a painless way of teaching most of the species likely to be seen
.)
MATERIALS:
Simple platform feeders mounted on poles or hung from trees are sufficient. Purchase finely cracked corn and sunflower seeds in bulk at a feed or garden store. Suitable bird guides include the Field Guide to the Birds (Eastern) and Field Guide to Western Birds by Peterson (Houghton Mifflin) or A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America by Robbins, Bruun, Zim and Singer (Golden Press)
.
PREDICTION:
In class discussion, encourage creative, logical, and critical thinking. We recommend that you introduce the following ideas if they are not suggested by students: In general, seed-eating birds have heavier bills than insect-eating birds. Among seed eating birds at a winter feeder, bigger birds usually have bigger bills. (However, bill size is not always related to seed size; small chickadees may prefer sunflower seeds while larger sparrows may prefer corn
.)
PROCEDURE:
It is VERY IMPORTANT that students understand the data collection procedures before they begin
.
TIMER:
For busy feeders, two minute observation periods spaced 5 minutes apart will provide adequate data. For other feeders, five minute observation periods spaced 2 minutes apart may be necessary
.
COUNTERS:
Be sure students understand that they are to count all bird arrivals and to ignore all bird departures
.
COUNTERS AND OBSERVERS:
The counters will fill out the top half and the observers will fill out the bottom half of the Feeder Data Sheet.
QUESTIONS 7-9 require higher order thinking skills. We recommend that you discuss these questions with your class before students write out their answers
.
2.
Answers will vary. However, chickadees prefer sunflower; nuthatches, cardinals, house finches feed on sunflower and corn; and starlings, house sparrows, juncos feed on corn
.
3.
Not necessarily. Small chickadees feed on large sunflower seeds and large morning doves and bluejays feed on finely cracked corn
.
4.
There is a loose relationship; larger billed birds tend to eat larger seeds. Class data may be inadequate to demonstrate the effect
.
5.
Answers will vary. However, sparrows and juncos tend to be ground feeders and chickadees and nuthatches feed above ground
.
6.
The size of birds is unrelated to their preferred feeding locations
.
7.
Yes. Small chickadees peck open seeds; medium sized cardinals crack seeds with bill;
larger bluejays swallow seeds whole
;
8.
Small juncos eat a single kernel portion with each peck; larger bluejays gulp up many kernels with each peck
.
9.
Larger birds typically make fewer visits than smaller birds. Larger birds can eat larger quantities in one visit; they are usually dominant due to their size and so can make longer visits; they have lower metabolic rates. (See Teacher Background)
.
10.
A feeder farther from the observer, or from a building housing observers would tend to be chosen, as would a feeder near shrubs or trees that could serve as hiding spots
.
11.
How easily the seed can be handled (i.e. cracked open and eaten) is a most important factor in seed choide. Taste and color of the seed may also be important
.
12.
One could record the amount of time each individual of species spends at each feeder and feeding location
.
Class data
may be compiled easily by making an overhead transparency of this Class Data Sheet.
Total number of bird visits from the Bird Count Data Table of each group should be entered here
.
Seed and Location Preference
: Summarize data from the Class Bird Count Summary Table above for each species.
Body Size and Bill Shape: Body measurements in inches are given in field guides. Bill shape can be qualitatively described as small, medium, or large relative to body size.
Summary of Feeding Behavior: Outline major aspects of feeding behavior. Does the bird species make few long visits to eat many seeds or many short visits to eat one seed? Are sunflower seeds husked? Are feet used to find seeds or hold seeds to be husked
?
The COUNTERS
fill out this data table, with the help of the TIMER.
TIMER: For busy feeders, two minute observation periods spaced 5 minutes apart will provide adequate data. For other feeders, five minute observation periods spaced 2 minutes apart may be necessary.
COUNTERS: Be sure students understand that they are to count all bird arrivals and to ignore all bird departures.
Total number of visits for each species from this data sheet should also be entered in the appropriate place on the class data sheet (Bird Count Summary Table)
.
The OBSERVERS
fill out this data table.
Feeder Site: High sunflower, low sunflower, high corn or low corn.
Pattern of Visits: For each species, students should record whether a few birds come for extended period to eat many seeds or many birds make short visits to eat one seed.
Data from this table should be summarized and entered in the appropriate place on the class data sheet (Bird Behavior Summary Table).
GOING FURTHER: You may wish to have students collect other data at the feeder such as signs of aggression, effects of weather and time of day