Given that birds are perceptive towards and sensitive to fluctuations in habitat openness, it is reasonable to assume that this variability may influence calling behavior.
Research Question: How does a bird’s perception of risk and propensity to elicit mob calls vary with level of feeder exposure?
Hypothesis/Prediction: If a feeder is in a more open environment, then an individual bird approaching it will be ___ likely to elicit mobbing calls than if the feeder was in a less open environment. What do you predict (more, less, or similarly) and why?
Methodology: As a preface, the birds in the flocks we study have each been color-banded as a means of individual identification. This helps us to visually identify who is who when they visit feeders. Why might it be important to know which birds are visiting which feeder? Across various national parks and forests in Latvia, we have bird feeders set up that are regularly stocked with sunflower seeds. By keeping feeders replenished, the flocks remember their locations and are even “trained” to visit the feeders upon our arrival because they know we are bringing food! This makes it easy to run trials and experiments with them. This general preface is similar across all of our studies.
For this study, we have relocated half of our feeders so that they are close to their original locations but obscured by denser vegetation. For instance, a feeder may have been very exposed on a tree trunk, but we have now moved it into a patch of evergreen rhododendron. We stock a feeder with seed and wait for birds to approach.
