Marcus

= What affect does cologne have on birds? =

If a bird feeder has cologne sprayed on it, will it affect how much seed is eaten from it?
 * Question:**

**Hypothesis:** I think that having cologne sprayed on the feeder will slightly decrease the amount of seed eaten.


 * Materials:**
 * Enough bird seed for two weeks
 * Bird feeder
 * perfume/cologne
 * tape and sharpie for measuring

I will spend two weeks on this experiment. I will fill the bird feeder at the beginning of the week, then mark the amount eaten each day. At the end of the week, I will refill the feeder and spray it with cologne. At the end of that week, I will measure and compare the results I have gathered.
 * Methods:**


 * Independent variable:**
 * Spraying the feeder with cologne
 * Dependent variable:**
 * How much seed the birds eat
 * Control:**
 * Keeping the feeder in the same location

Blue: week one Green: week two Note: I could only record the first three days of week one because of inconvenient vacation timing.
 * Graph:**

In my research, I found that birds do eat about 28% less seed from a bird feeder that has had cologne sprayed on it than one without. I assume this is because some of the birds are scared off by the smell.
 * Results: **

I found that my hypothesis, '//I// //think that having cologne sprayed on the feeder will slightly decrease the amount of seed eaten//' was not supported by my data. I would restate my hypothesis as: I think that having cologne sprayed on the feeder will //SIGNIFICANTLY// decrease the amount of seed eaten. My results show that substantially less bird seed was eaten over all in the week that the cologne was sprayed on the feeder. I did some research and this is not surprising data. I found that many birds actually have very good senses of smell. If I could do it over again, I would have squirrel proofed the feeder before it fell down twice, and I would also have planned out the schedule more so I wouldn't be traveling right in the middle of the first week. I might have added in a third week with a different smelling cologne to see if the birds could tell the difference.
 * Conclusion:**

I noticed several times that squirrels had climes on top of the feeder and knocked it off of its branch. I fixed the problem by hanging the feeder off a long string tied to the branch so that the squirrels couldn't get to it.
 * Interesting observations: **


 * Bibliography: **
 * "Birds Have A Good Sense Of Smell." //ScienceDaily//. ScienceDaily, 16 July 2008. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.