George,+aka+Awesome+Dude

= The Ponderings of George: = = My favorite type of bird: The American Goldfinch; (Please Note: This picture wasn't taken at my feeder or taken by me at all) =

[[image:American_Goldfinch-27527.jpg width="880" height="528"]]
= My Second Bird Experiment: = From 2/17/11 to at least 2/27/11

** Bird-Brained Question: **
====** - How do the temperature and weather outside on any given day affect how much birds eat at the feeder? ** ==== ==== ====

Hypothesis:
- More bird food will be eaten on colder days because there will be less other food available, and the feeder will be more convenient than other options.

Independent Variable:
- The average temperature and general weather condidtions for each day

Dependent Variable:
- The amount of food eaten

How I wil measure the Dependent Variable:
- The weight difference between the feeder filled at the beginning of the day and the eaten from feeder at the end of the day

** Controlled Variables: **
- Location of feeder - Fullness of feeder at beginning of day - Amount of time for birds to feed

** Materials Needed: **
- Bird Feeder - Lots of Birdseed - Pencil and Paper to Record Seed Eaten and Average Tempurature - Computer to Find Average Temperatures and Graph Data - Scale to Measure Amount of Seed in Feeder - At Least Seven Days - Lots of Wild Birds

** Process of the Experiment: **
1. Fill the feeder and measure the weight to make sure that it starts the same each day, in this case 7:00 in the morning. 2. Hang up the bird feeder in a bird-accessible area, the same on every day. 3. Do not disturb the birds at the feeder throughout the day. 4. Take in the feeder in the evening and find the weight difference between the full feeder and the eaten from feeder. 5. Record the day's feeder info, average temperature, inches of precipitation, and general weather conditions. 6. Repeat steps 1-5 and see the differences in results, making sure that steps 1&4 are done at the same times each day. 7. Look at the data and draw conclusions as necessary

** Pictures of my First Experiment: **

 Pictures of my feeder with a few birds on it:


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= My First Bird Experiment : = From 11/30/10 to 12/5/10

Hypothesis:
- More bird food will be eaten on colder days because there will be less other food available, and the feeder will be more convenient than other options.

Independent Variable:
- The average temperature for each day

Dependent Variable:
- The amount of food eaten

How I wil measure the Dependent Variable:
- The weight difference between the feeder filled at the beginning of the day and the eaten from feeder at the end of the day

Controlled Variables:
- Location of feeder - Fullness of feeder at beginning of day - Amount of time for birds to feed

Materials Needed:
- Bird Feeder - Lots of Birdseed - Pencil and Paper to Record Seed Eaten and Average Tempurature - Computer to Find Average Temperatures and Graph Data - Scale to Measure Amount of Seed in Feeder - At Least Seven Days - Lots of Wild Birds

Process of the Experiment:
1. Fill the feeder and measure the weight to make sure that it starts the same each day, in this case 7:00 in the morning. 2. Hang up the bird feeder in a bird-accessible area, the same on every day. 3. Do not disturb the birds at the feeder throughout the day. 4. Take in the feeder in the evening and find the weight difference between the full feeder and the eaten from feeder. 5. Record the day's feeder info and average temperature. 6. Repeat steps 1-5 and see the differences in results, making sure that steps 1&4 are done at the same times each day. 7. Look at the data and draw conclusions as necessary

Results in Charts and Graphs:
Past high and low temperatures were collected from Weather.com! The Temperatures are in Fahrenheit and the Weights of Food Eaten are in Pounds!
 * Results Chart ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Vital Measurments: ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Date || 30-Nov || 1-Dec || 2-Dec || 4-Dec || 5-Dec ||
 * High Tempurature || 72F || 69F || 46F || 40F || 39F ||
 * Low Tempurature || 47F || 31F || 26F || 29F || 29F ||
 * Food Eaten || 0.3 || 0.6 || 0.5 || Collectively: || 1.3 ||

Click Below For Graphs and Charts in Excel:



= **Conclusion/Discussion:** = - Only squirrels were ever seen at our feeder (they scared all the birds off). Some food was also spilled by the squirrels, but the measurements still show levels of activity at the feeder. It seems like my hypothesis was correct, because as the weather got colder, activity at the feeder increased. This may just be because they got more used to the feeder being there since it was only first hung on the morning of Monday the 29th. I can not find any information about birds or squirrels eating more or less in the cold on the internet, but I'm sure someone has done research before. I'm definitely not going to try this experiment again until I can find a better way to keep the squirrels off of the feeder! - A new development: On the morning of Tuesday the 7th I looked out the window and saw that under where the squirrel-infested feeder had hung, there were about six birds feeding from what was spilled on the ground, more than had ever come to the feeder when it was hung.

**﻿ Pictures of my First Experiment: **

Pictures of the Feeder I will be using for the Experiment that will not be knocked down:


= He definitely looks like the blue bird of happiness!!! =