Citizen+Science+Saturday+3-17-18

On Saturday, I attended a Citizen Science Saturday at Prarie Ridge in Raleigh. Every Saturday, people have the opportunity to come out from 10:30-11:30 AM to help the organizers gather data for researchers in the area and around the world. This Saturday, we went to the outdoor classroom deck and pond to see how many species of birds we could find. There was 20 species total, with the cardinal being the most abundant. This bird is the North Carolina bird, so we were expecting to find the most of them. I learned that in order to differentiate between a male and female you have to look at the color of their feathers. A female has lighter colored feathers than the male. This was evident in the female cardinal because her feathers were a red-brownish color, while the male was a bright, bold red. Males are brighter in order to attract a female counterpart and show dominance over her or the area they occupy.

After we collected all of the data, we entered the data into an application called eBird. This is an online website that helps people enter any data they find on bird species in their area. With this resource, people are able to track common species in an area and look at the birds for seasonal changes, behavior, and migration patterns. People do not have to come to Prarie Ridge to complete this task. The coordinator said that all data is welcomed and encouraged because it gives people a better insight of what is in that area. This is related to what we learn in AP Environmental Science by allowing us to study the migration patterns and behaviors of birds. We can use them as environmental indicators to see what pollution and other contaminations are occurring in the area. It is important for us to look at these things so that we are able to see how human actions can play a major role in wildlife species.