Ecology BIOL2050 Lab 3 Dataset 4 Bird Species

This data set for the third BIOL2050 lab was conducted in the Stong pond grassland on Tuesday September 29, 2015 at about 4:00 PM. The temperature in the area during the time of data collection was roughly 15 degrees Celsius accompanied by rain and cloud cover with a light breeze. The objective of this dataset was to identify the different species of birds and the frequency of these species in the Stong pond grasslands. A pair of binoculars and transect tape were used to collect this data in the tall grass region of the grassland. First, a transect tape was laid out in the tall grass and 50 meters were measured. Then, my group members and I walked along the transect tape, looking all around us to spot any birds either flying around in the sky, swimming in the pond or walking on land. We used the binoculars to get closer looks at birds that were far away so we could better identify the species. Any birds that were spotted were recorded and these steps were carried out four more times for a total of five replicates. This dataset taught us how the line transect data collection method is very useful when you want to cover a large area quickly and/or are examining mobile organism which obviously were birds in this case. Since it was raining during the time of this data collection, not many birds were spotted and our data doesn’t reflect the true bird population of the Stong pond grassland.