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Waterfowl communities

Zoology 14 February 2011 Donald Winslow. Waterfowl communities. What are waterfowl?. Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Aves Order Anseriformes Family Anatidae (swans, geese, ducks)‏. Other waterbirds we may see. Order Podicipediformes (grebes) Order Pelecaniformes

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Waterfowl communities

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  1. Zoology 14 February 2011 Donald Winslow Waterfowl communities

  2. What are waterfowl? • Kingdom Animalia • Phylum Chordata • Class Aves • Order Anseriformes • Family Anatidae (swans, geese, ducks)‏

  3. Other waterbirds we may see • Order Podicipediformes (grebes) • Order Pelecaniformes (pelicans & cormorants) • Order Ciconiiformes (herons & egrets) • Order Falconiformes (e.g. Bald Eagle) • Order Gruiformes (e.g. American Coot) • Order Charadriiformes (shorebirds, gulls) • Order Coraciiformes (kingfishers)

  4. What is a community?

  5. What is a community? A group of individuals of different species interacting with each other.

  6. Objective of waterfowl exercise: Determine how composition of waterbird communities are affected by size of lake, habitat, human disturbance, etc. As the size of a lake increases, the proportion of area where the water is deep increases. We would expect that birds that forage in deep water would have a higher relative abundance at larger lakes.

  7. Dabbling and diving ducks • Dabblers eat a lot of vegetation and tend to forage in shallow water near the shore. • Diving ducks eat more fish and forage in deeper water.

  8. What’s relative abundance? • The proportion of individuals in a community that are a given species. • Example: If there are 100 ducks and 70 of them are Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), the relative abundance of Mallards is 0.7.

  9. Hypothesis: Bird species which forage in deep water would have higher relative abundance at a large lake than at a small lake. • Prediction: Diving ducks would have a higher relative abundance at a large lake than at a small lake. • Prediction: Dabbling ducks would have a higher relative abundance at a small lake than at a large lake.

  10. Dabblers Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)‏ Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)‏

  11. Diving Ducks Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)‏ Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)‏

  12. Study design • Count waterbirds at lakes of varying size. • Classify duck species as divers or dabblers. • Classify other species by feeding habits or other relevant variables • Determine whether predictions of hypothesis are met. • Draw conclusions.

  13. Resources online • http://www.okbirds.org • http://www.suttoncenter.org • http://donaldwinslow.info

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