Bird Feeder Research

By Alex

I was studying birds for a science project. In this project I wanted to learn more about bird feeding habits. I wanted to find our which feeder is liked best by the birds that come our feeders at school. I tested four types of feeders. The bird feeder names are suet, tube, platform, and bottle.

In order to research my topic I looked for background information and found out that birds like tube feeders and platform feeders best.

In order to answer my question, I put black oil sunflower seeds in the tube, bottle, and platform feeders. I put suet food in the suet feeder because the sunflower seeds would fall out. Then I put the bird feeders outside all on or near the same tree. The platform feeder was a screen with seed on top, and I placed it on top of a bush near the tree. I marked the tube and bottle feeders at the top of the seed line. I made a chart, and every morning I refilled any feeders and marked the feeders at the seed line. I also observed and wrote down the types of birds that came to the feeders. Then I analyzed the information and found out which feeder the birds liked best.

During my observations I counted 19 birds on the tube feeder. I counted 16 birds on the suet feeder, and 14 at the bottle feeder. Only three birds were spotted on the platform feeder, although I did see a number of birds eating off of the ground under the tree. However, I had to refill the suet feeder three times over nine days with a block of suet, the bottle feeder was filled three additional times, and the tube feeder was filled once, and the platform was not refilled. However, the tube feeder holds more food than the bottle feeder. Two bottles is the same amount as one tube of food.

The types of birds that preferred the tube and bottle feeders were house sparrows, house finches, and cardinals. The birds that preferred the suet feeder were starlings, catbirds, and grackles. The only birds that I saw at the platform were mourning doves.

In conclusion, I found that the birds that came to my feeders did not have a preference between the tube or bottle. They liked these in equal amounts. The suet feeder was very popular with certain birds. The platform was the least favorite.

In the future researchers might want to investigate other types of feeders or try different kinds of food.

Some other interesting facts I learned while research birds are that mourning doves are ground eaters, which is why I did not see them on the bottle, tube, or suet feeders. I know that whenever blue jays come to a feeder the other birds fly away. This makes me think that I don't want blue jays to come to my feeders or other birds will not come.

BIRD FEEDER CHART

BY Alex