Julian

=Sunlight and Shadow: An Investigation into Bird Behavior=

The Question
Do birds prefer sunny or cloudy days?

The Research:
My research seems to show that birds have a behavior of sunning themselves(spreading out the wings and lying flat), so I infer that birds will be out and about more on a sunny day.

The Hypothesis:
My hypothesis is that birds will eat more seed on a sunny day than on a cloudy one. The reason I think this is that birds benefit from being in the sun, and they be outside more on a sunny day due to this.

The Variables:
Independent variable: The cloud cover. Dependent variable: The amount of food eaten.

The Experiment:
This is my experiment plan: I will set up a bird feeder in my yard. Each morning, at around 7:30 I will measure the amount of food by volume and fill the feeder accordingly. In the evening, at around 5:30, after 10 hours, I will measure the food in the the feeder and subtract the end volume from the beginning volume to get the total amount of food eaten. I will also record the cloud cover that day. After recording all the data for 1-2 weeks, I will create a scatter plot graph to show the result visually. The X-axis will be the amount of cloud cover(cloudy to sunny), and the Y-axis will be the amount of food eaten. I will discount rainy days, to control for the effect that rain might have on the birds.

Materials: - Bird feeders (2) - Scale for weighing (1) - Bird seed (enough for a 2 weeks) - An internet connection for cloud cover data

Notes:

-10/18/13 - Filled and put up feeder. In front of house near road. -10/27/13 - Moved feeder from in front of the house to behind, because the former location was ill advised. -10/29/13 - The birds still haven't found the feeder. -11/4/13 - The birds still have not found the feeder. Researching feeder discovery times.

The Result:

 * **Date** || **Volume** || **Weather** ||
 * Nov. 1 || 0 cups || Mostly Cloudy ||
 * Nov. 2 || 0 cups || Clear ||
 * Nov. 3 || 0 cups || Mostly Cloudy ||
 * Nov. 4 || 0 cups || Mostly Cloudy ||
 * Nov. 5 || 0 cups || Mostly Cloudy ||
 * Nov. 6 || 0 cups || Partly Cloudy ||
 * Nov. 7 || 0 cups || Overcast ||
 * Nov. 8 || 0 cups || Scattered Clouds ||
 * Nov. 9 || 0 cups || Mostly Cloudy ||
 * Nov. 10 || 0 cups || Partly Cloudy ||

Conclusion:
My hypothesis was not supported because there was no to support it. The real conclusion here is that experiment conductors must think carefully about how they introduce food into an experimental system. My mistake was probably making an nonoptimal way for birds to get food

The Resources that Helped Me:
Works Cited Mayntz, Melissa. "Bird Sunning." //About.com Birding / Wild Birds//. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <@http://birding.about.com/od/birdbehavior/a/Bird-Sunning.htm>. "Natural Sunlight for Your Pet Bird, Bird Health and Behavior for Owners." //Birds.com Online Birds Guide with Facts Articles Videos and Photos RSS//. Birds.com, 28 July 2008. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <@http://www.birds.com/blog/the-benefits-of-sunlight-for-your-bird/>. "Weather History for Raleigh-Durham Airport, NC." //Weather Forecast & Reports//. Wunderground Weather, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <@http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KRDU/2013/11/4/MonthlyHistory.html>.