Rachel

=What Type of Bird Food Do Birds Prefer?=

//** Guiding Question: **// Do birds prefer bird food intended for wild birds, or bird food for pet birds?

Some Background Information: I tried to do a little research on whether or not wild birds would even eat parakeet bird food. There wasn't too much information on the topic, but I do not think it will harm the birds if they do eat it.

//** Procedure for Investigation: **// 1. Make two identical bird feeders: []

Make a hole on each side of the bottle about ¼ of the way up from the bottom of the bottle. Insert a stick through both holes to make perches; use one that’s long enough to stick out a few inches from each side of the bottle. The holes should be just larger than the size of the stick so the birds can get the seeds; or make separate feeding holes slightly above the perches. Fill with birdseed (use a funnel). You may want to poke small holes in the bottom of the bottle to let moisture drain out. Tie a wire or small rope around the top of the bottle for hanging. You can also make this project upside-down, with the cap pointing down; thread wire through two small holes in the bottom of the bottle, then twist the two ends together to make a hanging loop.

2. Fill one feeder with 1 centiliter cup of wild bird food 3. Fill the other feeder with 1 cup of parakeet bird food 4. Hang both feeders in the same tree at the same level 5. After the feeders have been hanging for 24 hours, put the remaining wild seed in the same measuring cup and record how much is left 6. Put the remaining parakeet bird seed in the same measuring cup and record how much is left 7. Repeat this process over the course of four days

// ﻿**Materials:** // - Two bird feeders (Two 2 Liter soda bottles, sticks) - Wild bird seed - Pet bird seed -Measuring Cup

//** Variables: **// -Type of bird food -Amount of food eaten from each feeder -Type of feeder -Amount of food -Placement of bird feeders
 * Independent:**
 * Dependent:**
 * Controlled:**

//** ﻿Hypothesis: **// I think that the birds will favor the wild bird seed, since that is the food that is meant for them. It might also make since that they would be attracted to the pet bird seed becuase it is more colorful.

//**﻿ Results and Data: **// Data: No bird food eaten of either variety Weather: A little wet, but not rainy ** Day 2: ** Data: No bird food eaten of either variety Weather: Mostly rainy Data: No bird food eaten of either variety Weather: Sunny
 * Day 1: **
 * Day 3: **


 * ||  Day 1 ||  Day 2  ||  Day 3  ||
 * Food Eaten ||  0 ||  0  ||  0  ||
 * Weather || Cloudy/Cold || Rainy/Warm || Sunny/Warm ||

**//Interpretation of Results:﻿//** When I started this experiment, I set out to find whether birds prefered wild bird seed, or parakeet bird seed. My hypothesis was that the birds would prefer the wild bird seed, since they were wild birds. I do not think my results acuratley display which food the birds prefered, but it might show something else. Through this experiment, I learned that the birds near my testing area might prefer to eat in good weather. It is also possible that the birds just never found my feeders since they were only left out for 3 days, and two of those days were rainy. So my results might also show that birds are less likely to look for new places to eat when it is raining or about to rain. I think that if the weather conditions make it harder for birds to fly, they will want to spend less time finding food, so they go to feeding places that they already now exist. This is similar to how humans will be more likely to drive to a close grocery store that they already know about if it is raining.

// ﻿**Conclusion:** // There is no evidence that proved or disproved my hypothesis. If I left the feeders out longer, I might start to see a preference in which bird seed the birds eat.