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   The Winter Bird Feeder SurveyCreating the Context Research Focus   
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During the winter, the most widespread backyard bird species is the Dark-eyed Junco.

House finches are spreading to the midwest from the East where they were introduced in 1940.

How do we know?

Many people have turned their "hobby" into a significant contribution to the understanding of bird biology. In addition to understanding birds and bird behavior, each of the earth's bird species responds differently to subtle environmental changes. Birds can represent sensitive barometers to environmental change, telling us a great deal about what is right and what is wrong, with the biosphere.

The Winter Bird Feeder survey began as a cooperative effort of Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, the Kansas Ornithological Society, OWLS sites and schools across Kansas, and hundreds of volunteers, to census birds at feeders throughout Kansas. The project is now a North American effort to understand birds and the biosphere.

    Some interesting questions to guide our work on about would include:

    1. What birds typically visit a feeder in our area in the winter?

    2. Have the birds visiting feeders in Kansas changed over the past 10 years? (many years of past data on birds is available!)

    3. Does the land/habitat surrounding your feeder effect the birds that visit?

    4. Does changing land use effect the species of birds that visit your feeder?

    The information on how to collect the data for this project is located in the Research Methodology area, under Creating the Context.

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