Trends in the spring arrival dates of Neotropical -migrant landbirds

1. Trends in the spring arrival dates of Neotropical-migrant landbirds in New York State, 1988-2013 Jasmine Calle College of Staten Island Victor Ryan Bernal Brooklyn College Abstract: Climate change has been shown to affect animal lifestyles world-wide. However, new data is arising everyday that further elucidates to what extent life is affected. This project will be focusing on the change in spring arrival dates for neo-tropical migratory land bird in New York State from 1988-2013 in hopes to offer the information up for further research. It is widely recognized that climate can affect birds by changing their arrival schedules, but to quantify this data is to better know the rate and nature of this change. This analysis also gives a more accurate depiction of how important weather as a factor. Insert graph here. Introduction: Birds, like other animal species, are heavily affected by changing weather conditions. There are direct and indirect reasons for this, which will be mentioned in this report. Migratory birds, however, are perhaps especially affected by these changes. They depend on weather cues to know when to begin their migratory journeys. Conclusion: Birds are AWESOME. Methods: The primary data used for this analysis were tables from The Kingbird, a birding magazine. These yearly tables showed the arrival dates in New York, which was separated into 10 regions, for certain land bird species. Because many species are analyzed, the impact of any species-specific factor for changes in arrival times is lessened. Any species that was missing more than (insert#here) reports was excluded from the report for the sake of having a steady average. All the magazine’s data reports from 1988 until the present were compiled into a graph to make any existing trends more obvious. A T-Test will be used to test the null hypothesis is true. Discussion: It really depends on whether or not it is an African or European swallow. Acknowledgements: Thank you to Professor S. Mitra from the College of Staten Island for lending his wisdom and editorial skills. References: New York State Ornithological Association, Inc. The Kingbird. Volumes 38-83. Web. <http://nybirds.org/>. Ebird.org. TheCornell Lab of Ornithology, and National Audobon Society. <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/>. Neotropical Birds. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Web. <http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/home>.