Correlations between Weather and Bird Feeding Activity Victoria Acosta, Kaitlyn Marston, Cole Milliron, and Andrea Soles Longwood University Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences

General Background Birds endure various abiotic factors of the environment. Factors include air pressure, temperature, and wind speed. 1

General Background As barometric pressure decreased, white- throated sparrows visited the food cup more often (Metcalfe 2013). Lower temperatures and higher wind speeds produced significant changes in foraging habits (Grubb 1975).

Research Question In what ways are birds affected by these aspects of weather? Hypothesis: H0: There is no correlation between weather parameters and the amount of bird activity. Weather Parameters: Air pressure Temperature Wind speed UV index Cloud cover Humidity Precipitation

Study Area Location of observation: Environmental Education Center. Along the wood line at the top of a cleared, maintained hill Field Method: Point Counts

Data Collection Observe Timespan: 3 weeks Frequency of observations: Tuesday and Thursday, 11am and 4pm Total observations: 12 Bird Identifications: Merlin Bird ID App Observe

Data collection Predictor variables: Air pressure Response Variables : Temperature Wind speed UV index Cloud cover Humidity Precipitation Weather Parameters (wundeground.com) Response Variables : Number of birds Species of birds Statistical analysis with the use of “R” - Simple linear regression test Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)

Dominance and Heterogeneity Dominance Simpson’s Index (D) D = ΣPi Heterogeneity Shannon-Weiner Index (H’) H’= Σpi*lnPi

Results 15 species recorded- 757 total individuals Zonotrichia albicollis Cardinalis cardinalis Thryothorus ludovicianus

Results: Weather Parameter Averages day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 temperature(Celsius) 17.6 11.45 4.5 5.2 18.45 6.75 windspeed(mph) 4.8 8.6 6.9 9.7 3 3.5 UV index 2.5 1.5 Air Pressure(mmHg) 30.25 30.07 29.64 30.225 29.92 30.57 Precipitation(% chance) 10 Humidity(%) 52 29 86 28.5 56 30.5 Cloud cover(0-8 scale) 7 1 6 0.5

Air Pressure P= 0.6208 R²= -0.07206 P= 0.882 R²= -0.09745

Temperature P= 0.05337 R²= 0.2565 P= 0.07854 R²= 0.2051

Humidity P= 0.8535 R²= -0.09607 P= 0.5524 R²= -0.05993

Results: Species vs. Weather Parameters

Results: Individuals vs. Weather Parameters

Results: Dominance vs. Weather Parameters

Results: Heterogeneity vs. Weather Parameters

Discussion All Null Hypotheses were supported except for temperature. The temperature Null Hypothesis was proved to be significant. Previous studies produced significant changes in foraging habits (Grubb 1975) and can be correlated to our temperature results where there was an decrease in activity when the temperature increased. While the barometric pressure decreased white throated sparrow activity increased (Metcalfe 2013), our data showed no significance.

Discussion: Future Research More research into temperature versus bird feeding. Short term studies of this nature could possibly not yield significant relationships, a longer study can result in more accurate or different results A lack of variation in weather patterns possibly affected current results Altering observation times could result in different data Earlier morning times Later evenings Addition of early afternoon observation

Acknowledgements Dr. Henkanaththegedara Longwood University; Biological Science Department

Sources Articles: Grubb, T.C., 1975. Weather-Dependent Foraging Behavior of Some Birds Wintering in a Deciduous Woodland. The Condor, 77: 175-182. Metcalfe J., Schmidt K., Kerr W., Guglielmo C., and MacDougall-Shackleton S. 2013. White-throated sparrows adjust behavior in response to manipulations in barometric pressure and temperature. Animal Behaviour 86: 1285-1290 Pictures: http://people-equation.com/wp-content/uploads/birds-on-a-wire2.jpg