Bird Species Abundance

This experiment was conducted in order to determine the abundance of bird species in the York University Danby woodlot area.The procedure for this experiment consisted of repositioning a 10 meter by 10 meter belt transect square to 10 different locations in York Univeristy's Danby woodlot area (5 replicates in the woodland area and 5 replicates in the grassland area). The abundance was estimated by counting and identifying the number of birds presenting in the transect square within the time duration of 1 minute. Birds observed were located in the grass, trees or in the air flying over head. Birds were identified with Tory Person's field guide, "Field Guide to Birds of North America". The birds were identified based on their color, markings, size and which bird specieis were found to be most abundant in southern Ontario according to the field guide. The Danby woodlot site was abundant with plant life, skies over head were slightly clear with some clouds, temperature was roughly 15 degrees celsius and windspeed calculated with the Beaufort Scale.