Seed Choice and Optimal Foraging: Investigations on Bird Feeding Preferences in Cariboo, BC

Abstract

The diverse family of Aves, or commonly known as birds, have been observed to make conscious food decisions. Within British Columbia, many birds commonly feed on bird feeders that consist of an array of different seeds of varying nutritional content. This study investigated bird preference over four different seed types as modelled by the abundance of birds at the control (black oil sunflower seeds) and each treatment group (nyjer, millet, and safflower seeds) in an observational study in Quesnel, BC. The researchers hypothesized that birds would prefer seeds of higher protein content and therefore, would observe the greatest average abundance of birds at the safflower treatment group. A statistical analysis was conducted by a one-way ANOVA and determined p = 0.55 for Trial 1 and p = 0.010 for Trial 2. The results of this study were significant in Trial 2 where after an additional Tukey-Kramer test, a distinct preference for black oil sunflower seeds was determined. This study concluded that bird preference for black oil sunflower seeds was most likely an outcome of seed familiarity rather than the occurrence of food availability or protein content.