Throughout my sampling period I noticed some trends appearing. Robins were active at all times of the day, being the first ones to rise and the last to go at the end of the evening. I initially thought that rainfall would affect bird activity more than what it did. However, the mornings when it was raining, the birds I was trying to identify by sight were much more difficult and I had to attempt to identify just by calls, which was rather difficult given that there is prolific bird song in my yard in the mornings. Some species, such as song sparrows were distributed throughout the property, but preferred low shrub with lots of cover. Brewer’s blackbird enjoyed the roof of the house and more open areas.
I did see some consistent species either just in the morning point count or the evening, but I was expecting more consistent observations that what I ended up with. It is important to note that my bird call skills are not as strong as they could be.
Hypothesis: That bird diversity and species will vary depending on the time of day and that my bird identification skills will improve as sampling continues
Prediction: 1) The presence/absence of birds will change depending on the time of day 2) Expand on my bird knowledge to identify the diversity within my yard
Response Variable: Bird species (categorical)
Explanatory Variable: Time of day (categorical)
This seems like a great project for expanding upon your ornithological knowledge, zaretski. Your prediction, that bird species will vary based on time of day, is clearly falsifiable (and also likely a correct hypothesis, although, as you noted for the robins, some species may not have preferential periods of activity). Additionally, your pieces (bird species) and patterns (time of day at which these species appear) are clear.
For the categorical predictor variable, time of day, I imagine that you will provide a concrete time frame for morning, midday, and evening. For example, 0500-9000, 9000-1800, and 1800-2100, depending on sunrise and sunset times. You may want to take observations within a relatively short time frame, say, two weeks, to isolate the effects of seasonality.
You might consider clarifying your response variable with regards to species presence. At our stage of ecological practice, counting individuals may prove difficult, so I agree to focus on species presence. Say, morning had species A, B, and C, midday had species B, D, and E, and night had A, B, and F. I like that a categorical response variable would show the types of species present at different times of day.