Date, Time, and Weather Conditions: November 15th, 2024, Overcast and around 20°C
- I plan to study the variety of bird species that come to visit the fruit trees in my backyard
- I have four fruit trees, two in the North-Eastern corner, with more sunlight and exposure to the sidewalk and no bushes nearby as well as Kikuyu grass cover and two in the Southeastern corner that has more dense shrubbery below them and the Buffalo grass cover.
Location 1: The northeast corner fruit trees (pear and peach) and grass cover.
I noticed that the birds have begun to sample the fruit from the pear tree even though they are not ripe yet as pictured in the image. I didn’t see any birds in the fruit trees while I was outside today, but I did see the resident miners nearby.
Location 2: The southeast corner fruit tress (two plum trees).
The plums are all green and don’t show any signs of being pecked at by birds yet.
Location 2: The southeast corner fruit tress (two plum trees).
The plums are all green and don’t show any signs of being pecked at by birds yet.
Hypothesis
- There will be a greater number and greater diversity of bird species visiting the fruit trees in the northeast corner of the yard as this corner has the older, more established fruit trees that provide sweeter fruit.
Potential response variable: number and diversity of bird species in the fruit trees, which would be a continuous variable
Potential explanatory variable: type of vegetation (fruit tree and grass cover), which is a categorical variable as there are only two types of grass and three types of fruit trees.
Experimental design: Natural Experiment