Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Please help me to find advices on backroundreseach or tips to do this project. Please !!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi,

There should be some information available at: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ and http://www.wbu.com/education/ (note that the latter site is trying to sell you bird seed). The general answer to your question is that it depends on the type of bird. In my experience, though, most birds are big fans of sunflower seeds, and some really like peanuts.

How I would do a project on this topic is to set up identical feeders side-by-side, filled with different types of seed. Then, watch each feeder for a certain amount of time, counting each bird that comes and identifying it if you can; you'll also want to count the number of visits each bird makes to the feeder if you can. You probably also want to count the maximum number of each species of bird at any one time, because you know for sure that they are different individuals. The feeder with more birds or more visits probably holds the preferred type of seed. You might also consider trying to measure how long it takes certain types of birds to open and eat different types of seeds.

Do you already have (a) feeder(s) set up? It can take quite a long time to attract birds to a new feeder, so you might want to do that ASAP if you haven't already.

Thank u!!!! do u have to buy bird feeders or make one?

Making one would work just fine; you just want the two (or more) feeders to be the same except for the seed. Or you could make one feeder with different compartments for different seeds.

Be careful of squirrels, though, if you have a lot in your area. They will get into your feeder, eat all the seed, and scare birds away. So, if you have a lot of them you may want to buy a squirrel-proof feeder.

FOR MY SCIENCE PROJECT MY TEACHER GAVE MY QUESTIONS TO ASK YOU. THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS:

1. Name and title of person
2.Do u think my topic is interesting, useful, or important. If so why?
3.When did u first study/learn about zoology?
4.What are some important things you have learned about this topic?
5. How can Knowledge about this topic be applied to every day life?
6. I have to make up 3 questions to ask you, these are the questions.

1.any background research tips?
2. tips on this project?
3. what kind of weather should I feed the Birds?

Thank YOU VERY MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!

Hi,

If you have not already done so, you should check out the guide for doing science fair projects and read the section for doing background research. If you do a good job on the background research, you will have a better project.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

For this project, you will need to know about birds and about different types of birdseed. Here is a website that will get you started.

http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Bird_Seed.html

Donna Hardy

1. Name and title of person
Melissa Bowlin, Post-doctoral Fellow

2.Do u think my topic is interesting, useful, or important. If so why?
I think it is interesting because it could potentially tell us a great deal about the adaptations different birds have evolved to solve one of the most important problems for any animal: how to get energy that it can use in order to survive and reproduce.

3.When did u first study/learn about zoology?
I remember reading books about dinosaurs and Ranger Rick magazine when I was about 3 years old.

4.What are some important things you have learned about this topic?
Backyard bird feeding can have important consequences for species. For example, many birds that are short-distance migrants have stopped migrating as much or have stopped migrating altogether because they now have a reliable source of food in the winter: backyard bird feeders. I have also found that bird watching and feeding are great ways to get people interested in and even involved in science.

5. How can Knowledge about this topic be applied to every day life?
Lots of people all over the world would like to know how to attract birds to their back (or front!) yards.

6. I have to make up 3 questions to ask you, these are the questions.

1.any background research tips?
Yes: Look up your local Audubon society. They are likely to know what birds are in your area, may suggest hypotheses to you, have tips for you, help you ID birds, and might even let you watch birds at their feeders. Also, make sure you get a bird guide (most people use the Sibley guide these days, but it is rather expensive...and contains a lot of birds! If you go to a tourist shop/book store, they may help you find a guide that only has birds in your state/region in it). Learn your birds! I suspect you will find differences in visits between the species.

2. tips on this project?
Get the feeder(s) up ASAP. As I told you, it can take months and even years to get birds to start visiting a new feeder. You may want to scatter seed around the feeder on the ground to attract birds, too. If you are pressed for time, consider asking someone who already has a feeder if you can use it.

3. what kind of weather should I feed the Birds?
You should just keep food in the feeder continuously so they will learn to visit it and will learn that it always has seed in it. However, I would suggest actually doing the tests on days following fresh snowfall if possible, because it will cover the food the birds usually eat and they will be more likely to visit your feeder on those days.

I love the answers you gave but please E-mail them to me if you can't it's alright but I really need it to be e-mail because My teacher told me to have proof that I "Ask an Expert". Please if you can email me at [e-mail address deleted by moderator].

Hi,

Science Buddies does not allow students or experts to post their e-mail addresses, or to communicate in any way outside of the forum. So, I am afraid that you will need to show her this page or print it out or something; I cannot e-mail the answers to you.

For more details, please see Science Buddies' policies on interviews: http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... 2761d72825

Hi, for my project how many times should I do it?

Generally, it's a good idea to repeat an experiment like this 6-10 times; I would definitely suggest doing this because you may get a lot of 'noise'--a flock of birds coming through or no birds coming through at all in the time you are watching the feeder. With enough measurements, you will get nice results.

Thank You for the tip!.......I'll surely do that!

On my Lab Notebook or my Data book what should I put?

This is a great project! I keep a couple birdfeeders in my yard because I love to watch the birds interact. I just wanted to say it can be hard to get new birds to come to the feeder. I only feed the birds in the winter, so every winter I have to wait for them to come again. In my yard, I have found it takes about 2 weeks from hanging them up before I get good, consistant traffic. I have them hung near a large window so I can watch them without disturbing the birds.

Melissa is right - the answer to your question depends on the kind of bird. Most of my birds shun the cheaper mixes and prefer any variety of sunflower. However, the woodpeckers prefer suet over seed. In order for you to correctly identify the birds for your project, I recommendgetting a bird identification book from your local library.

Awesome project! You will surely learn alot about birds from watching the feeder!

what should i record while doing this project?

If it were me, I would write down:

1. The time of observation (you probably want to keep this constant)
2. The configuration of the feeder(s)/seed(s) (e.g. 'sunflower seeds on right, thistle on left')
3. The weather--this could potentially have a big effect on your results! You especially want to write down how much snow you have; birds tend to have a harder time finding food when there's fresh, deep snow and less once it starts melting.
4. Number and identity of birds that come to your feeder; you will probably want to count visits instead of individual seeds (very hard to count, especially when there are multiple birds feeding) and 'visits' instead of birds--you could have one chickadee go back and forth from the feeder to its perch five times during the observation period. If you try to count the different birds, you will count this as a single bird if you can see its perch, but if you can't see its perch, you might accidentally count it as five birds. So, while I would suggest taking notes on, say, how many birds you think there are or how many you see at any one time, you probably want to focus on visits--they will be easier to count.

Make sense?

Edit: Thanks Melissa! I did not see your recent post, so my information is a bit redundant.

In the Project Idea, here's what it says about gathering results:

(https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p028.shtml)
Monitor the feeder at regular intervals to see what birds visit.

1. Use your field guide to identify visiting birds.
2. In your lab notebook, record the number and type(s) of birds that you see, and the time that you see them.
3. If you have a camera, take pictures of the birds, using a telephoto lens, if possible. The pictures will aid in confirming your identifications of the birds, and will add interest to your project display board.
4. Keep an eye out for squirrels, and take measures to keep them from raiding the seed, if necessary.
5. To get an estimate of the amount of seed consumed for each quadrant, measure the height of the seed remaining in each seed bottle. Subtract this from the previous height measurement to see how much seed was consumed in the preceding time period. (Alternatively, remove each bottle and weigh it.)
6. Re-fill bottles as necessary to assure a constant supply of seed. Be sure to record the new seed height (or weight) and time when bottles are refilled.

You'll want to record data for most of the steps that are listed above.

Read these pages about collecting data and recording in a notebook:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ment.shtml
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... tebook.pdf

Good luck!

Do i need to take photos of the birds during the expriment?

Taking pictures is optional. If you have a camera it might be helpful if you are having trouble determining what kind of birds are visiting. It would also add some color to your display board.

For this project can i just do 3-6 trials or more?

This project is a bit harder to do "trials" since you are depending on the birds.

I would try to watch the birds for about 30 min or so, twice a day after school (on a weekend you could do more). I'd do this at the very least for 3 days. If you have more time, you can gather more data (your project is due in January though, right?)

If you can get at the very least 5 birds per session I think that would be great. More is better! I'd aim for 10 or more if possible.

If for some reason you aren't getting many birds, you'll just have to make do with the data you have.

Just to add to what Amber's already said: I would actually suggest doing this before school if you can or in the evening a couple of hours before sunset, because birds are probably going to be much more active in the mornings and evenings than they are when you get home from school. This isn't to say you can't do it right after school if you do have plenty of birds visiting your feeder(s), but if you don't, try switching to mornings/evenings.

Good luck!

For this project what kind of graph should I do and what should title of the graph be? I'm also doing a table for the data can you give tips on how to do those. THANK YOU!

Can you tell us a little bit more about what you finally decided to write down/what you noticed?

If you counted seeds or visits, I suggest doing a bar graph. Have number of seeds/visits on the x-axis. For each species of bird, draw two bars (one open and one shaded) for your two different types of seeds. Depending on how many species/feeding events you observed, you may want to group some of the species.

Similarly, for a data table, I would have type of seed on the top and then along the side the types of birds. Then, in the boxes (two for each bird) record the number of visits or number of seeds eaten, etc.

I'm having trouble with my hypothesis can u plz help me think how to finish the rest

My hypothesis was "If different types of bird seeds are given to small birds, then the most favored seeds will be eaten the most because_____________________? All the rest of this hypothesis i couldn't think of can u guys help me with the last b


THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!