To Kill A Mockingbird's Footsteps

830 Words2 Pages

Abstract Bird nests, in particular those located in areas of low density vegetation have a higher degree of predation than those located in areas of high density vegetation. Such nests in these locations are preyed upon by many species. In the following experiment bird’s eggs made of white plasticine to emulate that of a real bird egg were placed in bird nests made of tennis balls that had been cut in half which were then covered with coconut fibers that was glued to them, two of these artificial eggs were then placed in each nest- a total of two nests were created. One of the two bird nests was placed in an area of low density vegetation and the other was placed in an area of high density vegetation to test the hypothesis that there is a …show more content…

Nests located in these areas of high density, often attract little to no predators as the nest becomes harder to see and hence the likelihood of predation is decreased. If predators are present in these areas, they are often small in size and take a relatively long time to predate the nest. However, nests located in areas of low density, almost certainty attract predators as they are more visible and easier to access thus decreasing the time taken until predation and also the size of the predators will increase. Hence concluding those nests locatedin areas of high density vegeatation will have a better survivial rate and hence reproduction will be more …show more content…

Angelstam (1986) discovered throughout his studies that species of bird were the most common predators of nests, while Major (1996) found the currawong to be a threat to both nests and smaller birds throughout Australian Urban environments due to their pied coloration. Nest predation in fragmented forest has been found to affect nests that are built above the ground more than nests that are built on the ground (Yahner & Scott, 1988). Nests that can be detected from a distance have also been found to be more preyed upon than those that cannot be (Angelstam, 1986), hence suggesting that nests located in low density vegetation areas are more at risk at predation than nests in high density vegetation. In this study, nest predation in low density vegetation and also in high density vegetated areas was examined and the predators of the bird nests were identified. It is hence hypothesized that there is a difference in predation rate in low dense and high dense vegetated areas and that birds are the major predators in both low and high vegetated areas.

More about To Kill A Mockingbird's Footsteps

Open Document