BIOL 3250 Data with Meta-Data Assignment for Balcony Birdwatching.xlsx

YORKU BIOL 3250: Data with Meta-Data Assignment for Balcony Birdwatching. In this data set each row on the data sheet represents a species level observation. For the sake of clarity, the field observations were coded as one species per behaviour per row. The purpose of collecting this data is to determine whether noise pollution and loud noises have an impact on the foraging behaviour of common urban birds. This experimental data was collected between October 6 th , 8th and 9th , 2022. The birds were observed from a balcony to maintain distance and to not interrupt their behavior but also to have a vantage point. Observations were taken within a 60-minute window between 4:30-5:30 p.m. EST on each date. The birds were observed with bare eyes and pictures were taken for species identification. The birds were identified using inaturalist and google reverse image search was used to confirm the identification. In order to measure any impact on foraging behaviour, the birds that were observed to forage were timed on how long they would forage before flying or moving away. This time spent was measured using a stopwatch and the average time in minutes per species was recorded in minutes. Since the site of observation remained constant, the dates of observation were chosen based on familiarity with the area so the birds could be observed in mild background noise (light traffic), medium background noise (traffic+ ice cream truck music), and loud background noise (loud music being played on a nearby field).