Student Research Reports

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In the Summer of 2024 bird activity was monitored in three different locations in Dearborn Heights, MI (Southeastern Michigan). The sites include the soccer practice field at Crestwood high school (Site 1), a small park behind the city post office (Site 2), and an open field in front of a senior citizen center (Site 3). Data collection took place at 8:00 A.M. three (3) times a week throughout much of the summer. The total number of birds encountered during each data collection was tabulated along with bird species composition. In addition, weather data was recorded using both the high school’s Weather Networks weather station (which sends data directly to GLOBE every 5 minutes) and using a Vernier weather station at the two other sites. Each site varied substantially in habitat quality, as determined from the Shannon wiener index. Although this is an unexpected result, it is interesting to note what types of birds were found in each location. The high school site was a larger area and less diverse than the other sites, but it attracted many invasive bird species rather that native species. The post office park (Site 2) on the other hand was the smallest area and had the least number of birds, it surprisingly contained the most diversity of all the sites. The open field behind the Berwyn senior citizen center (Site 3) had a moderate amount of birds and not as diverse as the post office park.