Alison Greggor is asking the public to take part in a birdwatching survey.
Which birds visit your garden and if so, how often? Do you feed them? Do they let you approach them?
These any many other questions are part of a nationwide birdwatching survey which aims to involve members of the public in cataloguing bird behaviour.
Alison Greggor, a Gates Cambridge scholar doing a PhD in Experimental Psychology [2012], is running a citizen science project that is aimed at understanding the reasons behind bird distribution in the UK.
Using a simple online survey, participants from all over the country can get involved and record the activities of their local birds. Alison says: “No expertise in birdwatching is needed, and it is a great way for people of all ages to take part in science and help us to understand the decisions of birds to move between urban and rural areas.”
The British Trust for Ornithology has partnered with Alison to get its members involved in the survey which covers a whole range of questions, from whether birdwatchers have seen a bird roost and what they have seen them eat to how they feel about corvids’ reputation for destruction.
Alison’s PhD focuses on the impact of humans on jackdaws, how their habitat – whether rural or city – makes a difference and whether some birds are more successful when they act in a certain way around humans.
To take part in the survey, click here.
