May 18, 1999

Poems

Bird Poem by Roxanne

Papers

Feeder Color by Kyle

Artwork

A Flock of Blue Jays Artwork from four Classroom BirdWatch students:

Justin's Blue Jay

Sabrina's Blue Jay

Eric's Blue Jay

Jonathan's Blue Jay

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BIRD poem

By Alexandra
Mr. Williams' class
Springside Elementary School
Philadelphia, PA
Grade 3

B lue Jays
I gnore
R ude
D oves

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A Flock of Blue Jays

A Flock of Blue Jays
A Flock of Blue Jays
by Justin, Sabrina, Eric, and Jonathan

Justin's Blue Jay

 
Sabrina's Blue Jay

Eric's Blue Jay

Jonathan's Blue Jay

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poem

Scientific Paper
Feeder Color

Abstract

Does feeder color affect the number of birds using a feeder? I made feeders of different colors and filled them with sunflower seeds. Then I counted birds every other day from January 18, 1999 to February 17, 1999. I counted for 10 minutes each time. I found that the yellow feeder was used by 42.3% of the birds, and the uncolored control was used by 39%. The red feeder was used by 19% of the birds.

Introduction

I studied the question: Does feeder color affect the number of birds using a feeder? I made a hypothesis that some feeder colors would not attract as many birds as others would. The reason for my investigation is that I have never heard of this being done before and I wanted to know the answer.

Materials and Methods

I made 3 bird feeders out of empty orange juice cartons and filled them with the same brand of sunflower seeds (Pennington Sunflower Seeds). One feeder was hot yellow; another was shiny red. My control feeder was an orange juice carton that I did not color. My feeder area was located between two fields with a creek in the middle. It includes high and low vegetation and trees.

Results

I found that the hot yellow feeder was used the most - 42.3% of all the birds used it. The control feeder was used by 39% of the birds, and the shiny red feeder was used by 19% of the birds.

Discussion

I was surprised that the hot yellow feeder was used the most, because I thought the control would be preferred by the most birds. These results bring up more questions: Do different species prefer different colors? Will other types of bird food give different results? Why did the birds I saw like hot yellow better?

I do not think that I answered my question with the data I collected. If I did this experiment again, I would try to fix the errors I made during this experiment. My sources of error included: I wasn't able to watch all of my feeders at once. My feeders were at different heights by 2 to 3 inches. There were some disturbances that could have affected my counts - for example, crows, automobiles, and neighboring areas with dogs. It was hard to keep track of my counts from one feeder to another.

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Classroom Birdscope
May 1, 1999