User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
July 13th / 2021 10:30 am
Temperature: 18 degrees C, overcast conditions
I plan on studying the behavior of birds at various locations at the Esquimalt Lagoon. At the first chosen location which is a shallow water marshy area with freshwater run off there was a family of ducks, a single seagull, 2 American Golden-Plover, 1 crow and 2 House Sparrows. I stood at the spot for ten minutes and waited for birds to appear in the areas. The second location is on the other side of the lagoon which opens to the ocean. The birds observed on that side were 2 seagulls at the rocky shoreline looking for food under the seaweed that was washed up. The third spot chosen along the environmental gradient is an area to the right of the marshy region which has more bushes and trees for birds to land on. The birds observed in the bushes were a flock of House Sparrows approximately 10 of them.
Considering the distribution of the different types of birds I notice a pattern on the types of species that are found in each region more frequently than the other. In the first location it was observed that there were ducks, seagulls, crows and more species by or in the water, the second location strictly seagulls at the ocean shore and the third location had House Sparrows which were perched in the trees. Not every spot had the same bird species found throughout. I hypothesize that the bird species are spread out through the environmental gradient based upon what their lifestyle needs require; types of vegetation and prey that includes small animals, insects and fish. Ducks for example are mainly insectivores and herbivorous so their diets require them to be in areas where there is vegetation and insects on the water. This will occur in areas that are shallow and marshy compared to the open ocean. The potential response variable is the number of bird species that appear in each chosen location over a ten minute period, this is considered categorical because I am categorizing individual species. One potential explanatory variable could be the types of vegetation found in each location which would fall under categorical as I am identifying the species present.
