Survey of Birds and the Feeding Observations

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Survey of Birds and the Feeding Observations

• By Rachel Jacobs and Laura Yost

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Hypothesis/Purpose

• Birds have food preferences
• Commonalities among people feeding birds
• Explain different types of feed and feeders

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Survey

• How often to you feed birds?
• How long have you been feeding birds?
• What do you feed them (brands/types)?
• What kinds of birds do you want to attract?
• What types of birds do you see most often?

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• How many different species of birds do you see at
  the feeder?
• Does anything other birds eat the food?
• Do you use conventional feeding methods?
  (feeders/scraps) If both which brings more
  diversity?
• Any unique, funny, interesting stories you want
  to share when feeding/observing?

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Results

• 11 fed everyday, 9 refilled when empty, the
  remaining fed either weekly, seasonally monthly
  or whenever they had scraps.
• 18 have been feeding for greater than 10years,
  only a few starting recently

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Results

• Only brand mentioned was Agway, others were
  generic brands, a variety of mixed seeds, bread
  or scraps
• Specific types used suet cake, sugar/water
  mixture
• Most had no preference as to what birds they were
  trying to attract

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Results

• Types of birds seen were pigeons, house finches,
  blackbirds, and chickadees
• 4 most popular seen were robins, cardinals, blue
  jays, and sparrows
• Most reported (17) seeing gt 6 species at feeders,
  several lt 6 and a few never counted or couldnt
  identify

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Results

• 28 reported having squirrels and/or chipmunks
  eating the feed, some said raccoons, dogs and
  cats
• Most used feeders and scraps, all of which said
  that feeders brought more diversity
• Stories mating, fighting, broken antique sink as
  a feeder and watching other animals eating the
  food

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Feeding Tips

• New types of food
• Birds wary
• Familiar place
• Seed in bulk
• Cool, dry
• Mold
• No chocolate
• Theobromine

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Types of Feed

• Seeds
• Many varieties and mixtures
• Black oil Sunflower seed
• Most common
• A lot of fat
• Small birds
• Niger Seed
• Grains of rice
• Goldfinches

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Types of Feed

• Suet
• Insect eating birds
• Beef kidney fat
• Processed cake
• Seeds and berries
• Nuthatches and Woodpeckers

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Types of Feed

• Nectar
• Hummingbirds and Orioles
• Sugar water
• Food coloring
• Toxic
• Red Portals
• Red Ribbon
• Keep clean
• Bacteria
• Mold

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Types of Feed

• Grit
• Many types of birds
• Gizzard
• Sand
• Pebbles
• Broken Eggshells
• Dry asphalt or Wood ashes
• Minerals

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Types of Feed

• Water
• Drinking
• Bathing
• Dripping
• Very appealing
• Location
• Close to ground

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Feeders

• Three main types
• Tray (platform) feeders
• Hopper feeders
• Tube feeders
• Three specialty types
• Suet feeders
• Hummingbird feeders
• Peanut feeders

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Feeders

• Tray Feeder
• Raised surface
• Spread out food
• Disadvantage
• No protection
• Without roof wet food
• Species
• Cardinal
• Juncos
• Doves
• Sparrows

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Feeders

• Hopper Feeder
• Tray feeder with roof and walls
• Seeds spill out of bottom
• Hold food
• Several Days
• Continuous supply
• Disadvantage
• Becomes wet and moldy
• Species
• Large variety
• Chickadees up to Blue Jays

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Feeders

• Hollow Cylinders
• Many feeding ports
• Perches underneath
• Keep away mammals
• Not accessible to large birds
• Perch too small
• Speices
• Finches
• If large enough perch grackles and jays

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Feeders

• Suet Feeders
• Wire mesh cage or bag
• Only open at bottom
• Species
• Nuthatches
• Woodpeckers
• Chickadees
• Cling to cage or bag upside down

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Feeders

• Hummingbird Feeder
• Bottle or tube
• Small holes
• Hold liquid
• Narrow openings
• Species
• Hummingbirds

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Feeders

• Peanut Feeder
• Wire mesh cage
• Cylidrical
• Species
• Jays
• Nuthatches
• Woodpeckers

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Feeders

• Placement of Feeder
• Natural area
• Trees or Shrubs
• Sit and wait
• Not too close
• Other mammals
• Scare birds away
• Quiet and visible area

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Feeders

• Unwanted Visitors
• Squirrels
• Most common
• Distract with other food
• Attach cone or tent to block
• Damage feeder
• Raccoons, Deer, Moose
• Build fence
• Remove feeder
• Few days

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Feeders

• Must be kept clean
• Mold and Bird droppings
• Birds become ill
• Clean when refilling
• Harmful substances
• Mild bleach solution
• Air dry

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Fun Feeding

• Popped corn
• Raisins
• Fruit
• Fruit seeds
• Pine cones
• Peanut hearts

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Literature

• What affects birds eating habits??
• G.M. Tucker agriculture, increased manure use,
  aerated soil, therefore increasing earthworms and
  ultimately increasing bird densities.
• Choose particular area to forage, posibly for
  camouflage and decreased competition, i.e
  blackbirds (Turdus merula) in small fields with
  tall hedgerow

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Literature

• Feinsinger Colwell Wolf and Chown nectar
  feeding birds form assemblages based in
  availability of resources and take roles in
  foraging
• Feeding is very important to hummingbirds because
  of the high metabolic requirements
• More diversity of food resources has increased
  bird diversity

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Literature

• T. E. Martin reproductive effects having
  specific costs to parents and the young
• Morton Food intake depends not only on
  availability and diversity of birds in the area
  but on temperature and the time of day

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Literature

• Stiles frugivores prevalent in Eastern deciduous
  forests, not necessarily strictly frugivores,
  some feed insects to young
• Nutrients in fruits are carbs, proteins and
  lipids
• Willson and Comet Color preferences in berries
  exhibited in crows. Preferred fruits with high
  glucose and lipid concentrations, more pronounced
  in adults.
• Order of preference RgtBgtYgtG

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Literature

• Willson also looked at robins and found findings
  consistent with the previous study on crows.
• Main finding was that frugivores may have a
  search image for fruits

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References

• Project Feeder Watch About Birds and Bird
  Feeding lthttp//www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBi
  rdsandFeeding/abtbirds_index.htmlgt 29 April 2006.
• Feeding Wild Birds lthttp//www.wildbirds.com/Fee
  ding.htmgt 29 April 2006.
• Hinterland Whos Who. Bird Feeding.
  lthttp//www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id224gt 29 April
  2006.
• Tucker G. M. (1992). Effects of agricultural
  practices on field use by invertebrate-feeding
  birds in winter. Journal of Applied Ecology. 29,
  779-790.

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References

• Feinsinger P. R. K. Colwell. (1978). Community
  organization among neotropical nectar-feeding
  birds. American Zoologist. 18, 779-795.
• Wolf L. L., F.R. Hainsworth, F. B. Gill.
  (1975). Foraging efficiencies and time budgets in
  nectar-feeding birds. Ecology. 56, 117-128.
• Chown S. L., N. J. M. Gremmen K. J. Gaston.
  (1998). Ecological biogeography of couthern ocean
  islands species area relationships, human
  impacts, and conservation. The American
  Naturalist. 152, 562-575.
• Martin T. E. (1987). Food as a limit on breeding
  birds a life history perspective. Annual Review
  of Ecological Systems. 18, 453-487.

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References

• Stiles E. W. (1980). Patterns of fruit
  presentation and seed dispersal in
  bird-desseminated woody plants in the estern
  deciduous forest. The American Naturalist. 116,
  670-688.
• Morton M. L. (1967). Diurnal feeding patterns in
  white0crowned sparrows, zonotrichia leucophrys
  gambelii. The condor. 69, 491-512.
• Levey D. J, T. C. Moermond, J. S. Denslow.
  (1984). Fruit choices in neotropical birds the
  effect of distance between fruits on preference
  patterns. Ecology, 65. 844-850.
• Willson M. F. T. A. Comet.(1993).Food choices
  by northwestern crows experiments with captive,
  free-ranging and hand-raised birds. The Condor.
  95, 596-615.
• Willson M. F. (1994). Fruit choices by captive
  American robins. The condor. 96, 494-502.