By Betty Liu
Hi everyone! I'm writing this blog to introduce the fieldwork I'm doing here. My name is Betty, and I'm an ecology student currently conducting a survey on the social behavior of house sparrows on the island.
The sparrows aren't spotted too often, but you can usually find them hanging out in the bushes right next to the store. Of course, there are also the pied wagtails – little black and white birds with a very crisp, clear call that fly in a beautiful, wave-like pattern.
While you're exploring, you might just stumble across my bird feeder. If you do happen to spot it, please don't touch or move it—my entire graduation thesis depends on it! 😉
House Sparrow using the feeder by Betty
House Sparrow feeding station by BettyThe feeder itself is a large box with a tunnel attached to the outside. I've set up an RFID recorder on the tunnel, so every time a bird pops in for a snack, it automatically logs their visit. What's the point of all this data? I'll be using these feeding records to predict their breeding behavior later in the season. By looking at their social activity now, I can forecast things like which pair of sparrows will breed earlier this year, and even estimate how many eggs they might lay!
This is my third time visiting Lundy, and I hope you all have a wonderful time experiencing island life, too!🐦