June 20, 2001

What Species of Birds Will Come to Different Types of Food? by Ben

Which Birds Come Most? by Adam and Dallin

The Digestive System by Brian and Jake

Poetry

If I were an Indigo Bunting by Helen

The Cardinal by Justin

Can You Guess? by Hadley

A Bird's Flight by Kyle

Art

Mourning Dove by Caitlin

Bluebird by Brett

American Goldfinch by Maria

Wood Thrush by Jonathan

Mourning Dove
Caitlin, Grade 4
Assumption School
Morristown, NJ
Mrs. D'Agostino

A Bird's Flight
By Kyle, Grade 5
Milford Public School
Milford, NJ
Mr. Pilato

On one fine day a bird flies high in the sky.
It soars fast through the air as it looks down at the grass,
Hoping to find something to eat,
A worm
A bug
A special treat.

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Which Birds Come Most?
By Adam and Dallin, Grade 4
Port Edwards Elementary School
Port Edwards, WI
Ms. Welniak

We decided to see how many birds would come to our feeders over 5 days. We saw American Goldfinches, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-breasted Nuthatches, a Blue Jay, and a House Finch. We learned that White-breasted Nuthatches come more often than any of the other birds. The Blue Jay and House Finch don't come often in the winter.

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The Cardinal
By Justin, Grade 4
Preston Elementary School
Preston, MD

Cardinal: A sleek and red bird
It will make itself heard.
A bright red, like perfect fall leaves,
Flying in the gentle breeze.
Flying fast like the wind.
When in a race it's sure to win.
My friends and I watch peacefully,
While the cardinal eats greedily.
When you are looking all around,
Beware because it might be on the ground.

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American Goldfinch
Maria, Grade 7
Churchill Jr. High
Galesburg, IL
Mrs. Willy

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If I Were an Indigo Bunting
By Helen, Grade 5
Silas Willard Elementary School
Galesburg, IL
Mrs. Ruehmer

If I were an Indigo Bunting
I would fly through the sky
And paint it blue with my glorious feathers
I would search for seeds and delicious foods
Then I would perch on a tree and feast.
When I had eaten my fill
I would search for a place to sleep
And sleep the night away
The next day
I would start all over again
If I were an Indigo Bunting

The Digestive System
Brian and Jake, Grade 8
Harrington Middle School
Mt. Laurel, NJ
Ms. Barrett

Imagine this. You're driving down the road and all of a sudden two white clumps splatter on your window. You can blame this on those little creatures known as birds. But before it lands on your windshield, it has to go through the bird's digestive system.

Birds do not have teeth, so they have a bill. After the food enters the mouth, it goes to the esophagus. Birds have a large esophagus because they swallow large meals. Birds also have a crop. The crop can be an expanded esophagus or 2 or 3 extra pouches. The food enters the pouch and then waits to enter the stomach.

Birds have two stomachs to aid in digestion, and a gizzard which has stones that grinds the food. The stomachs have a cycle of contractions in which food is moved back and forth between the two stomachs.  In this way the enzymes touch the food more, and the food is ground while moving between the two stomachs.

Birds have a small intestine similar to ours. It receives bile, which breaks down the food from the liver and adds more digestive enzymes from the pancreas. Before the food can be flushed out, it must go through the large intestine. The large intestine absorbs any excess water. After this process, waste material is now ready to leave the body. To do so, it enters the cloaca, which is an expanded, tubular structure used to remove waste and serves as part of the reproductive system.

The cloaca then uses peristalsis to force the waste out of the bird and onto your windshield!

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Can You Guess?
By Hadley, Grade 3
Coombs Home School
Cordova, TN
Mrs. Coombs

I'm the state bird of Vermont
I live in woodlands and swamps
With speckled breast and white eye rings
I am a bird that loves to sing
Some call me a nightingale
And I do like to wail
I have a flutelike song
But please don't sing along
To hear me you will need to hush
Because I am a _____________.
<click here for the answer>

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Introduction

What types of foods are preferred by different species of birds? My hypothesis is that if different species have different food preferences, then each species will be counted more often at one food supply than another. The research conducted for this experiment included looking up which species eat certain food types. The birds that were counted ate at least one type of food provided. Also included in the research were previous unscientific personal observations. These observations provided background knowledge to use in my research. My years of observing birds support the results of this experiment. The research suggests that mixed feed, sunflower seed, and suet are the most popular types of food, so that's what I used. The study area is in a backyard on a small street. Between the backyard and the street are several large forsythia and "burning bushes". A large sycamore and a maple tree are near the feeding area. Between the observation area and the count area are azalea, yew, and an unknown shrub. The habitat of this area is a small lawn, about 7,000 square feet, in a residential neighborhood adjacent to the town park in Bloomsburg, PA.

Materials and Methods

Three hanging feeders were used with the experiment, each at about 5 feet above the ground. Two of these were of the silo type, located on a post, with sunflower seeds and mixed feed. The mixed feed consisted of sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, cherries, peanuts, and raisins. The other feeder was a wire cage feeder on a large sycamore tree that holds a block of suet. The observation area was a house to the north of the feeding area. The tools used for this experiment were: an Audubon bird identification book, count sheet, binoculars, and a computer. More than ten hours were put into this experiment to ensure the accuracy of the data. The typical observation time was around late morning to early afternoon. The count method used was total visits of each species. Every time a bird(s) came to the feeders, it was counted as one visit. Then, if all of them left and some came back, it was another visit. A bar chart was created to view the data graphically.

Results and Analysis

The data show that birds have different tastes for foods, just as humans do. Even if a species can eat all three types, like the Black-capped Chickadee or the Tufted Titmouse, they might come to one more than another. The graph provides more information about the counts.

Conclusion

The Carolina Wren only ate the mixed feed, and the Downy Woodpecker only ate the suet. This suggests that some birds have favorite foods. The suet was eaten by all but two birds, as was the mixed feed. Some possible factors that influenced the data are pedestrian and vehicular traffic, presence of a bird of prey, or presence of another animal such as a squirrel. If this experiment were to be repeated, it would be better to spread out the count times.

Discussion

By completing this experiment, I have learned several things about birds and doing research. For instance, I have always thought that Dark-eyed Juncos were specifically ground feeders. However, the data showed that they also eat at a hanging suet feeder. I learned that in order to get an accurate representation of data, you have to observe over an extended period. For example, ten one-hour periods are more accurate than one ten-hour period.

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Wood Thrush
By Jonathan, Grade 7
F.D.R. Middle School
Bristol, PA
Mrs. Mueller

Answer: Wood Thrush!