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Seminar Assignment 5
Seminar/Tutorial Assignment 5
15 marks (4.5% of final grade) – 5 individual and 10 group marks
(1 bonus mark available by submitting individual portion by next seminar)
Note: This is a group assignment. You may work only with your assigned group. The assignment is
due to the Seminar Assignment #4 Dropbox on March 31st at 11:59PM.
This is a “Choose Your Own Adventure” assignment. You have three options to choose from for this
seminar assignment depending on weather, skill level and accessibility. Reminder: please don’t
hesitate to contact your TA’s if you have questions about any of the options or would like more
advice/guidance on how to approach them.
You will be making observations and counting bird feeder species either in the field, from a live
Cornell Lab cam or from a pre-recorded Bird Count video. You will record your observations and bird
species count data. Using the counts, you can practice creating a properly formatted figure, figure
caption and describe the results.
Useful resources for common bird feeder species identification include:
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Project FeederWatch Common Feeder Birds – poster of common species
Project FeederWatch Interactive List of Common Feeder Birds – this page allows you to select
the location, feeder type, food time to narrow down the birds species.
Merlin Bird ID app which asks you to answer three questions about shape, size and location of
the bird you are trying to identify and provides a list of possible matches. You can also try to
identify by bird call or photo.
Seminar Assignment Structure:
You will individually need to complete bird count data collection and then compile your individual
data into one group assignment to be handed in.
Before completing the worksheet, make sure you have reviewed the following:
1. Guide to Creating Figures Using Excel
2. Field Safety Rules (if going outdoors) – same as Tutorial 3
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Seminar Assignment 5
“CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE” CHOICES
Adventure 1 – Collecting Data from Field Site
For those that have easy and safe access to a bird feeder or a site often visited by birds and are
comfortable with identifying common bird species in your area using the identification resources.
If you do not have easy access to a bird feeder but would like to pursue this option, we suggest
contacting your local conservation authority to enquire about local, public feeders in nature centres
and community areas. You may be surprised by how many public spaces have bird feeder spaces.
For example, the University of Guelph Arboretum features two bird feeder locations: right outside the
front of the Arboretum Centre and the Gosling Wildlife Gardens.
At your chosen site, record how many of each species is visible at one time in two 10-minute
observation periods in the datasheet following the Instructions for Counting Birds below. If there
are birds not listed on the datasheet, please fill them in the blank spaces or use your own data
collection table.
Adventure 2 – Collecting Data from Cornell Feederwatch Cam
If you are not able to find a safe, accessible bird feeder to collect your own data, you can access the
Live Cornell Lab FeederWatch Cam at Sapsucker Woods on Youtube. Link to live stream is also
posted on Courselink.
Using the identification resources, record how many of each species is visible at one time for two
separate 10-minute observation periods in the datasheet following the Instructions for Counting
Birds below. If there are birds not listed on the datasheet, please fill them in the blank spaces or use
your own data collection table. Since you are viewing it on Youtube, it’s recommended that you pause
or take screen shots of the birds to give you more time for identification. You can also try using the
Merlin Bird ID app on the still image.
Adventure 3 – Collecting Data from Bird Count Video
If you feel very unfamiliar with bird identification or are struggling with the identification, you can use
the two Tutorial 5 Bird Count Videos 1 and 2 on Courselink which shows birdfeeder birds at a
backyard feeder, narrated by the Arboretum’s Chris Earley.
Watch the video and record how many of each species is visible at one time in the 10-minute
observation period in the datasheet following the Instructions for Counting Birds below.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COUNTING BIRDS
1. Print a copy of the Feeder Birds Data Collection Sheet
2. Correctly ID the birds you see using the Project FeedWatch resources, Merlin Bird ID app, field
guidebooks, etc.
3. Birds do not have be “on” the feeder, plant, etc. to be counted as long as they are within the
feeder ecosystem/site (or on the screen for Adventure #2 and #3. For example, if there is a
bird sitting in an adjacent tree, ground or flying within the site, those count. Predator birds like
hawks count too and they are often interested in the small birds at the feeder site!
4. Don’t count birds that are simply flying overhead like a Canadian Goose.
5. Count how many birds you see at ONE TIME, not how many you saw in total for the entire
time. Why? Because if you count one robin that leaves and 5 minutes later count a second
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Seminar Assignment 5
robin, there is a possibility that you just counted the same robin twice. Therefore, you must see
all the birds to count them.
6. If you have a first sighting of 3 chickadees then at a later time see a total of 4 chickadees at
the site, do not add these numbers. Keep 4 as your latest tally as it is the highest number –
think of it as getting your highest score for a specific bird!
7. Sexual dimorphism does not change how you count the birds either – if you see a male
cardinal that leaves and then a female cardinal 4 minutes later, you still cannot count that as 2
cardinals because technically you only saw at most 1 cardinal at a specific time. I know you’re
thinking “but I know the male and female are not the same bird!” but this is for statistical
consistency. Chickadees, for example, cannot be sexed easily so you could end up counting
sexually dimorphic birds in larger abundances than those that have no sexual dimorphism.
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Seminar Assignment 5
1. Feeder Birds Data Collection (5 Marks) – Individual portion
The following needs to be submitted separately by each group member to the Seminar Assignment
#5 Individual dropbox – bonud mark available if completed and submitted before the next seminar
in week 11. You may copy and paste the individual components into a separate document to submit
or complete them on this sheet.
Observer Name:
Date and Time:
Location – Include location name if applicable, address, GPS coordinates:
If using live stream cam, use their location of the bird feeder.
Weather – e.g. temperature range, precipitation, snow depth and snow cover (hard crust, patchy,
etc.) if available:
If using live stream cam, look up the weather for the day you accessed the live stream.
Other Observations (e.g. habitat, animal presence, behavioural interactions, etc.):
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Seminar Assignment 5
Species Seen (some common birds of Eastern North America included):
Bird Species
Observation Period 1 (or
Video 1)
Observation Period 2 (or
Video 2)
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Tree
Sparrow
Black-capped
Chickadee
Blue Jay
Brown-headed
Cowbird
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Redpoll
Dark-eyed Junco
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Evening Grosbeak
Fox Sparrow
Hairy Woodpecker
House Finch
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Pine Siskin
Purple Finch
Red-breasted
Nuthatch
Red-winged
Blackbird
Song Sparrow
White-breasted
Nuthatch
White-crowned
Sparrow
White-throated
Sparrow
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Seminar Assignment 5
2. Results and Data Analysis (9 Marks) – Group portion
Create a properly formatted figure in excel of the mean maximum number of individuals per species
observed in the two 10-minute periods – all group member observations should appear in one graph
(use a legend to differentiate data sets). Your figure should have an appropriate figure caption, and
standard error bars should be included. Create a separate document and submit your group figure
and caption to the Seminar Assignment #5 Group dropbox.
3. Courselink Discussions Post (1 mark)
Post must be in Courselink by the Tutorial 5 deadline (March 31st, 11:59PM) to receive full marks.
You may choose to start your own thread or reply to another student’s thread.
Describe a major trend in your results and pose one question that arises from that trend. If another
group has described a different trend from yours that piques your interest, you may also pose a
question related to their results.
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