Brennen Hodge

April 23. 2009

Biological Research
Dr. Rauch

Optimal Foraging Theory

The topic of this paper is optimal foraging theory. With that in mind, some ideas need to

be described first. Organisms are constantly interacting with the environment they are present

in. Each organism has its role to play in the environment to keep the cycle of life regulated in a

biosphere. The environment an organism lives in includes all external factors, such as abiotic

and biotic factors, and is constantly changing. This continuous process demands the efforts of

scientists and biologist to study and document the actions of each organism.

The study of organisms and their interactions with their environment is termed ecology.

Ecology is a broad science and includes some of these examples: Population processes,

including reproduction, death, migrations, and death; interspecific interactions such as

competition, predation, mutualism, and parasitism; structures of animal and plant

communities, and the flow of energy and nutrients through an ecosystem. Ecology is typically

considered a branch of biology, which is the general science that studies living organisms. This

science is associated with the highest levels of biological organization, including the individual

organism, the population, the ecological community, and the ecosystem and biosphere as a

whole. The focus of this paper is to describe the foraging processes of birds and how the

ecological community affects their actions.

 Foraging behavior of organisms has been a central concern of ecology and has been

widely documented for most species. The theory of optimal foraging states that organisms

forage in such a way to maximize their energy intake per unit time. This means that they try to

capture and consume food containing the most calories while using up the least amount of

energy and doing this in the shortest time possible. The theory of optimal foraging helps

biologist identify with the factors determining an animal's range of food types, or diet width.

The limits of the range of food types eaten by an animal in a given habitat are defined by

morphological constraints, but only a few animals actually consume all the different prey items

they are capable of eating. Some animals tend to have broad diets and eat many of the food

items they come in contact with. On the other hand, some animals have narrow diets and

ignore many of the prey items they come across, searching only for a few specific types of food.

For the most part, animals exhibit characteristics ranging from one extreme to the other.

This study on optimal foraging among birds will cover the data recorded on the

observations of two bird feeders between the dates of March 13, 2009 and April 13, 2009.

Each feeder will be identical and both having the same type of bird feed. In order to get

different results to analyze, the feeders are placed in separate locations. Feeder #1 is located on

the edge of the woods next to a field, while feeder #2 is 25 yards away from the woods in the

open field. Both feeders are 4' from the ground. The purpose of observing these feeders is to

see the difference in the numbers of birds and species that feed at them, and to theorize why

the results are different.

The predicted results are expected to be that feeder #1 is the prime location for feeding

for all birds. With it being right beside the woods, there will likely be a greater chance for birds
to risk eating at the feeder. With the location of feeder #2, there is a greater chance of

predation from larger birds because of the lack of cover and security. Also, the possible

presence of larger, dominate birds is predicted to have an influence on the feeding behaviors of

other birds.

Setup

For this study, two identical feeders were selected from Wal-Mart that hold

approximately 1.5 pounds of feed. The bird feed that was used is a wild bird seed mix from

Pennington Seed. This particular type of bird seed claims to attract most seed eating birds,

including cardinals, woodpeckers, finches, titmice, doves, towhees, grosbeaks, and nuthatches.

The ingredients include milo, white proso millets, wheat, sunflower seed, and calcium

carbonate. As stated earlier, feeder #1 is located at the edge of an area of woods and feeder #2

is 25 yards away in an open field. Feeder #1 is hung from a tree 4' from the ground. Feeder #2

is hung from a metal rod designed especially for bird feeders and is also 4' from the ground.

Observations took place over the course of a month from 8:00 am to 9:00 am each Monday,

Wednesday, and Friday. The location of this study is in south Hattiesburg in Mississippi.
 The different species that were observed included: Male and female Northern Cardinals,

male and female Chipping Sparrows, male Pine Warblers, male and female Rock Pigeons, Male

and Female Northern Mockingbirds, a male Indigo Bunting, and male and female Blue Jays.

Species that foraged at both feeders

2; 1% 4; 2% 12; 6%
24; 11% Northern Cardinal
2; 1%
Chipping Sparrow
2; 1% Pine Warbler
Rock Pigeon
Northern Mockingbird
Indigo Bunting
Bluejay
170; 79%

The results shown that feeder #1 attracted the most number of birds and species.

Feeder #1 attracts approximately 3 to 1 more birds than # 2. It is clearly evident that the cover

and safety of the trees plays a significant role in foraging behaviors of the observed birds.

Feeder # 1
2; 1%3; 2% 11; 7%
20; 13% Northern Cardinal
Chipping Sparrow
2; 1%
Pine Warbler
Rock Pigeon
Northern Mockingbird
Indigo Bunting
Bluejay
112; 75%
 The location of feeder # 2 seemed to deter many birds from feeding there. Even the

amount of time spent feeding was significantly less than # 1. This may be because the

perceived risk of predation is higher being out in the open with no cover. Feeding in the open

allows predators a chance to notice the birds. It seems the birds are aware of this situation

because of the lower number of species and less time spent at feeder # 2.

Feeder # 2
1; 2% 1; 2% Northern Cardinal
4; 6%
2; 3% Chipping Sparrow
Pine Warbler
Rock Pigeon
Northern Mockingbird
Indigo Bunting
58; 88% Bluejay

Also, the time spent at

the feeders was much greater for feeder #1 than #2. The average amount in seconds that each

bird fed was 7 to 1. That is a significant gap in time spent at each feeder.

10000
2690

1000 606 640

370
190 140
100 60 75 60 70

Feeder # 1
10 Feeder # 2

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Ja
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din r bl ge bi tin e
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 Feeder # 1

Bird Total Time (s) Why?

Northern Cardinal 190 Nothing seemed to affect the Cardinals feeding

times other than the presence of a Cardinal of
the opposite sex. They came and went as they
pleased.

Chipping Sparrow 2690 The Chipping Sparrows were the most active
birds observed. They were continuously scared
off by Mockingbirds and Blue Jays. However,
they did seem to feed the longest and
constantly came back after a Mockingbird left.

Pine Warbler 60 Only two Pine Warblers were observed. They

fed for 60 seconds and left as 3 Sparrows
approached.

Rock Pigeon 0 No Pigeons were observed at this feeder.

Northern Mockingbird 640 The Mockingbird appeared to be the dominate

bird observed. They came and went as they
pleased, scaring off anything at the feeders as
they approached. They were constantly
fighting amongst themselves and were very
active.
Indigo Bunting 60
The two Buntings observed fed for 60 seconds
and were scared off by 2 Sparrows that flew in.
They were not seen again.
Blue Jay 370
Three Blue Jays were observed and fed for a
total time of 370 seconds. They scared off the
Sparrows each time they arrived.
 Feeder # 2

Bird Total Time (s) Why?

Northern Cardinal 0 No Cardinals were observed at this feeder.

Chipping Sparrow 606 The Chipping Sparrows were the most active
birds observed. They were continuously scared
off by Mockingbirds and Blue Jays. However,
they did seem to feed the longest and
constantly came back after a Mockingbird left.

Pine Warbler 0 No Warblers were observed at this feeder.

Rock Pigeon 75 The two Pigeons observed were foraging

around the spilt seeds on the ground. They
were obviously two big to sit on the feeders.
After they were done feeding they just walked
off a ways and left. No other birds were
present at this time.

Northern Mockingbird 140 The Mockingbird appeared to be the dominate

bird observed. They came and went as they
pleased, scaring off anything at the feeders as
they approached. They were constantly
fighting amongst themselves and were very
active.
Indigo Bunting 0
No Indigo Buntings were observed at this
feeder.
Blue Jay 70
One Blue Jay was observed and fed for a total
time of 70 seconds after he left feeder # 1
where he did not eat. No other birds were
present at this time.
 Conclusion

The results for this study on optimal foraging theory among birds were as predicted. Feeder # 1
did prove to be the more successful feeder among the two. This feeder attracted 3 times as many birds
than feeder # 2 ,and also the birds spent an average of 7 times longer at this particular feeder. Why is
this? For one, the location of feeder # 1 was in a great spot to offer protection from predators. It was
hung in a tree at the edge of about 40 acres of pines and hardwoods. Since birds are relatively small and
can fly, they tend to nest in trees where they are up off the ground, thus offering protection from the
possible cat , dog, or snake. Being in the confines of a densely wooded area, the cover also conceals
their location from predatory birds, such as hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls. Also, there is a variety of
other food sources that can be found in wooded areas, whereas there is not much to pick from in an
open field. As for feeder # 2, it's location provided absolutely no cover or protection for the birds. They
were eating at their own will, and quickly as it was observed. The birds that fed at # 2 stayed for a total
time of 891 seconds verses 4010 seconds for # 1. Many of the times, the sparrows that landed on
feeder # 2 only stayed for a few seconds before flying off to feeder # 1 and staying there a good bit
longer. It was clearly evident that the birds knew the risk was greater at this feeder.

Other birds in the immediate vicinity also had an effect on the activity of the birds at the
feeders. Every time a Mockingbird or Blue Jay approached, the Sparrows left. However, these birds
had no effect on the Cardinals. At the time of this study, Mocking birds were at the end of their mating
season and therefore were very active and territorial over the areas around the feeders. My predictions
for future studies done are that the time of year the studies are carried out will have an effect on bird
activity. Since this particular study was carried out during the Mockingbird mating season, all the birds
were affected by the territorial activity of the Mockingbirds. Another factor to take in consideration is
the time of day the feeders are observed. Typically, foraging activity will be highest in the morning and
evening and somewhat slower in the middle of the day. If this study were carried out at noon till 1:00
pm, then the results could vary significantly. Another possibility for different results would be to use
different bird feed. There are many factors to consider when trying to manipulate the study, but if the
same methods and setup were used again, the results would be similar.