I am studying a species of bird that is common in my backyard. The House Sparrow: Passer domestics . This particular species is a permanent resident (non migratory) and is commonly observed in my yard.
Hypothesis: Habitat quality influences the presence of the house sparrow
For my data collection I was initially going to use a smaller quadrat than what I ended up going with (3ft by 3ft). When I started laying out the quadrats with a smaller surface area I quickly realized it was not large enough to sample multiple different plant species and material. I switched tot he larger quadrat to be able to include multiple different kinds of species in one space.
I first collected the data I need to determine the plant density in each quadrat. Species in each quadrat and the species coverage. Then summarized results by ranking the quadrats from most dense to least. With the proximity of the quadrats I observed Q1. Q2 and Q3 at the same time, Q4, Q5 and Q6 at the same time and Q7, Q8, Q9 and Q10 at the same time. For each set I did a 1 hour observation within the same time windows (10am-11am) to keep external elements similar (amount of sunlight, relative temperature). As the winter approach’s I anticipate winter conditions (decreased temperatures and snowfall) may affect the presence and overall totals of the birds observed at each station.
The data I collected aligned with my initial observations of more bird activity in higher quality/ more dense vegetation. I may need to adjust my hypothesis slightly to be more specific. As I continue to collect data and do more research about this bird species I anticipate my hypothesis to become clearer.
I may also modify the amount of time from 1hr to a smaller amount of time and only observe one quadrat at a time for more accurate data collection.
Make sure you submit your small assignment #2 before completing all your data collection. I would recommend shorter point counts and more replicates on different days. You likely want to do your point counts at the same time each day.