Joshua Rabideau
11/10/2016
BIOL 380 – Lab: Monday
Black-Capped Chickadee Foraging Habits
There are numerous organisms and interactions occurring within any ecosystem. Many times, the interactions between organisms and habitats are based on the energy needs of the organisms. In this experiment, a null hypothesis that the Black-capped Chickadee forages on various trees at random. Upon data analysis of the gathered information, it can be determined that the Black-capped chickadee were not choosing foraging sites at random. The results of a chi square test gave a value of 19,890 which is significantly larger than the 16.812 value needed to void the null hypothesis with six degrees of freedom; the probability that this variation was due to chance is less than .01. This means that the Chickadee preferred certain tress compared to others; they tended to favor White Oak and Ash while avoiding Red Maple trees. Upon first glance it may seem like Chickadees favor Red Maple but this is only because of the density of Red Maple.
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This feeding mechanism can be explained partially by the bird’s beak shape and size. The Chickadee has a short conical beak allowing it to peck into shell and feed on the inside. Yet it is also conical and comes to a point allowing it to grab insects.Thus the Chickadee tends to forage in locations with ample berries, seeds or insects. This diet partially explains why the Chickadee prefers White Oak (Hemert et al, 2012). The White Oak has a grooved bark allowing cover for insects, one of the Chickadee’s main food sources. Moreover, the tree is able to produce acorns in which the Chickadee may be able to feed on (Abrams