Erin


 * To Tinsel or Not To Tinsel... **
 * Problem Statement: ** Will birds come most often to:
 *  a bird feeder filled with bird seed and a little bit of chili powder to keep away squirrels
 * or a feeder with everything the same, except that it has strings or tinsel tied to it, blowing in the wind, acting as a decoy or deterrent


 * Hypothesis: ** I think that birds will come to the feeder with no tinsel the most, because they will think of the strings as competition, or a predator, and they will be afraid to come near. At the end of my testing period, I believe that less feed will have been eaten from the feeder with tinsel, proving that birds preferred the string-less feeder.


 * Null Hypothesis: ** If it turns out that birds prefer the feeder with the tinsel, I believe that this will be because they are attracted to the reflective, shiny tinsel.

**Introduction:** ﻿ This hypothesis is based on an experience I had recently, which involved some friends of mine and their boat. Their boat was attracting a lot of unwanted birds, so they tied a string to a bar above the boat, to scare off the birds. This tactic worked very well, and they have had no more problems with birds. Although I live in the Piedmont in North Carolina, and these friends are from upstate New York, I believe that this trend will apply to my experiment also.


 * Independent Variable: **﻿ The tinsel tied to one of the feeders


 * ﻿Dependent Variable: ** ﻿The amount of birds that come to each feeder, or the amount of bird seed eaten at the end of the testing period.


 * Controlled Variables: ** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">﻿Location, weather, type and amount of food, and time of day.[[image:HPIM1012.JPG width="160" height="116" align="right"]]


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Materials:﻿ **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> These are the materials that I will need
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Two very similar bird feeders at the same height off the ground, about two meters apart from each other
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Bird feed with added chili powder to keep away squirrels
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">A measuring cup or graduated cylinder to measure how much bird seed has been eaten
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">A pack of tinsel[[image:HPIM1011.JPG width="160" height="116" align="right"]]


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Procedure: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">﻿ This is how I will test my hypothesis
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Fill two bird feeders with the same amount of bird seed: exactly six centiliters of bird seed with added chili powder (about ten ml)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Attach about ten pieces of tinsel to one of the feeders, in a way that enables them to blow in the wind
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Set feeders outside, in a place that can be observed easily, about 1.5 meters apart from one another
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Over the next four days, observe which feeder seems to attract the most birds
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">After two days of testing, carefully measure the amount of feed remaining in each feeder, and compare results
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Record Data
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Refill Feeders
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Wait two more days, measure again
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Record Data
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Compare Results


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Results: **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">﻿ I found that the birds ate slightly more of the food from the feeder with tinsel than from the one without. However, my results varied, and if I could do this experiment over again, I would leave more time for my designated testing period, ensuring more stable results. Here is my data:


 * || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Feeder with Tinsel || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Feeder without Tinsel ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Day 2 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">0 ml. eaten || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">0 ml. eaten ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Day 4 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">90 ml. eaten || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">60 ml. eaten ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Day 6 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">60 ml. eaten || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">60 ml. eaten ||




 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Conclusion: ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The results that I found left me undecided. At first, it seemed that no birds would come to my feeders, and that therefor, they would not have a preference. In my second round of testing however, It was clear that more seed was eaten from the feeder with tinsel, showing that birds preferred it over the string-less feeder, perhaps because they were attracted to the reflective, shiny tinsel. In my third round of testing, my data showed that exactly the same amount of feed was taken from the two feeders, implying that the birds had no preference whatsoever. This leads me to conclude that birds have a slight preference for a feeder with shiny material attached to it, as stated in my null hypothesis, but overall, there was not much of a difference.