Photos of two of her recordings

 An excerpt from her report:

Determining the Effect of the Seasons on Bird Species Richness 

Research Question: To what extent does the change in seasons affect species richness of birds in the Falls Creek Farm area? 

Over 450 bird species have been documented in Maryland. The most commonly known that migrate are the Canada Goose. Migration may happen because of a combination of changes in day length, lower temperatures, and changes in food supplies. There are also different types of migrations that range in distance. There are short, medium, and long-distance migrations. During the survey at the Falls Creek Farm, these movements were tracked. The different seasons were used as a cutoff point when looking at the species richness. The weather had a lot to do with what birds were present in comparison to others. 

To determine the abundance and diversity of birds in the Fall Creek Farm area, the Merlin ID App was used. The Merlin ID is an app that allows a person to use the audio from their electronic device to track a bird’s sound. When in the sound recording tab of the app, the audio of birds will be picked up and the bird found will be displayed on the screen. When a bird is identified, there could be an orange dot or red dot next to the bird’s name. The orange dot states that the bird is uncommon in the area at the time of the recording. The red dot states that the bird is rare in the area at the time of the recording.