Abundance of Bird Sightings in Different Habitats

This field experiment was completed in and around Danby Woods at York University at around 4 PM on Monday September 28th. The conditions were very windy, cloudy, and quite chilly at approximately 15-17 degrees Celcius. The grassland was located on the southeast side of the woods, parallel to Keele street. The grassland was a field with shortly cut grass and a few sparsely distributed trees. This data set includes information about the abundance of birds within the Danby Woods and the surrounding grassland. The sightings were completed based on 5 transect trials in each habitat, where within each trial there were 3 observations of varying distances along the transect. The birds that were spotted were most likely Blue Jays (Cyanositta cristata) as they had a light blue feathers on the tail and back, and a white belly. The transects were placed consitently in a West to East direction, so the further from the edge of the transect, the more East was the location. Likewise, with each new trial, the transect was moved further North in a relatively consistent manner. The movement in the woodlot was not as even because of physical obstacles that prevented an straight line of the transect and a consistent movement. At each trial and point of observation, birds were counted if they either flew overhead or were perched on a tree that was within a 5-foot radius of the observational location. The parameters that were considered were Beaufort wind scale, distance along the transect, distance from the transect, and number of birds sighted. Additional parameters included the distance the transect was moved between each trial to increase accuracy and precision. This lab continues to teach proper transect and random sampling techniques in order to observe the abundance of different mobile organisms. The new technique was how, when, and why to use a belt transect. The benefits of this type of transect is to cover a larger area in a shorter amount of time. Lab partners were Abera, Sufyan, and Alex.

本次野外实验于9月28日周一下午4时左右，在约克大学丹比森林及其周边区域完成。当日天气多风多云，气温约15至17摄氏度，体感较为寒凉。实验草地位于森林东南侧，与基尔街（Keele Street）平行，为一片修剪整齐的短草区域，点缀少量稀疏分布的乔木。本数据集涵盖丹比森林及周边草地内的鸟类丰度信息。调查基于两类生境各5条样带（transect）试验开展，每条样带试验内设置3个不同距离的观测点。本次观测到的鸟类大概率为冠蓝鸦（Blue Jays，*Cyanositta cristata*），其尾部与背部覆盖浅蓝羽毛，腹部呈白色。样带统一沿西向东方向布设，即距离样带边缘越远，观测位置越偏东。同理，每完成一次试验后，样带会以相对固定的轨迹向北移动。但由于林地内存在物理障碍物，无法保证样带为直线且移动轨迹完全一致，因此林地内的样带布设并不均匀。在每次试验及每个观测点，只要鸟类飞越观测点上空，或是停留在观测点半径5英尺范围内的乔木上，均会被计入统计。本次记录的参数包括蒲福风力等级（Beaufort wind scale）、样带沿线距离、样带横向距离，以及观测到的鸟类数量。为提升调查的准确性与精度，额外记录了每次试验间样带的移动距离。本次实验旨在教授规范的样带调查与随机采样技术，以观测不同移动生物的丰度，本次新学习的技术为带状样带（belt transect）的使用时机、操作方式与应用原理。该类样带的优势在于可在更短时间内覆盖更大的调查区域。本次实验的合作人员为Abera、Sufyan与Alex。