What it shows
Watching the same spot for 15 minutes each morning and evening and tallying every bird seen shows which species live nearby, when each is active and what it eats. The diary becomes a small record of local biodiversity.
The science
Different birds have different beaks, food and habits, so each is found at particular times and places. Crows and mynas eat almost anything and are active all day; sunbirds visit flowers for nectar in the morning; pigeons come to grain; bulbuls take fruit and insects. Counting at fixed times every day makes the records fair to compare, which is how scientists do a bird census.
Materials
Cost: free. Many items come from home or from waste; spare parts such as LEDs, motors and wire are in the store.
- A notebook ruled as a tally chart
- A pencil and colour pencils
- A bowl of water and a few grains on the balcony or sill as a lure
- A bird guide from the library or a free bird-identification app on a parent’s phone
- A watch or clock
Safety
For this project: Watch from a safe spot behind a railing. Do not lean out, chase birds or touch nests, eggs or droppings. Wash hands after refilling the water bowl.
Never use mains electricity: power models with cells, batteries or a low-voltage adapter. Sharp and hot tools, flames and lab chemicals need an adult or your teacher beside you. Keep magnets, button cells and small parts away from young children, and wash your hands after making.
All the safety rulesStep by step
8 steps. Do them in order, and test each part before you go on to the next. Write what you notice in a notebook as you go.
Choose one spot and fix two watching times, such as 7 am and 5 pm, for 14 days.
Put out a shallow bowl of water and refill it daily so birds come to the same spot.
Rule a page with bird names down the side and dates across the top.
Each session, sit quietly for 15 minutes and put a tally mark for every bird you see.
Draw or describe any bird you cannot name, noting its size, colours, beak and call, and look it up later.
Note what each bird was doing: eating, drinking, calling, carrying twigs.
At the end of two weeks total each species and make a bar chart of morning and evening counts.
Write a page on which birds were commonest, which came only at one time of day, and what they ate.
What you should see
A tally chart and bar chart of perhaps 6 to 12 species, showing that some birds (crow, pigeon, myna) are common all day while others (sunbird, parakeet) appear at particular times.
Viva questions
A teacher or a judge will ask how it works. Try to answer each question before you open it, then compare.
1Why count at the same time every day?
So that the counts can be compared fairly; birds are active at different times.
2How can a beak tell you what a bird eats?
Thin curved beaks sip nectar, short thick beaks crack seeds, hooked beaks tear meat.
3Why not touch a nest?
It can frighten the parents away and spread germs to you.
4What does a bird census tell scientists?
Which species are present and whether their numbers are rising or falling.
Take it further
Repeat the diary in a different season or send your counts to a citizen-science bird count.
Change one thing, measure what happens, and add a table or chart of your readings: that is what turns a model into your own investigation.
Free ebooks for this project
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