User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
Blog Post 3
I visited Cates Park on November 25, 2017 and the temperature that day was 11 degrees Celsius with light rain and wind coming from the northeast at 6km/hr. I plan to study the density of crows among three gradients including an open grass area with a playground (OGA), wooded area (WA) and second open grass area (OGA2). As you move from area to area the elevation increases. The OGA contained many picnic tables, garbage cans, a playground and leaf piles. The area is very flat with grass covering the entire area. The WA contained many trails within the forest. The wooded area had all the leaves gone offering not much coverage for animals. OGA2 is much smaller than the OGA but also contained two very large tennis courts at the top of the hill. The number of crows within the OGA2 only had 7 crows compared to the OGA that had 13. OGA2 contained only two garbage cans and a picnic bench. Walking between the areas the only observable vertebrates were crows, seagulls, and grey squirrels. These animals were visible in the open area, but none were observed in the forested area. The crows were seen foraging on the ground with the greatest group of them located near garbage cans, leaf piles, and picnic tables. I spent 30 mins walking around each of the areas to observe and count the number of animals in the area. Throughout the walk, there were no visible species in the wooded area. A large reason behind this may be the lack of the cover in the trees due to the colder weather. The response variable for my project will be the density of crows in each of the areas. The predictor variable will be the available food sources from humans and from trees. My hypothesis will be that crows are able to have a higher density with anthropogenic sources available to them compared to natural forested areas.
