What's a bird's favourite colour?

A shortened version of the project write-up can be read here!

Abstract
This was a field-based experiment to attempt to answer a question: Do birds have a favourite colour? Four coloured feeders (dark blue, green, yellow and red) and a clear control were used. The number of visits and the mass change in the feeders were recorded so preferences could be gauged. The results show a clear trend for blue being the preferred colour; red and yellow were unpopular.
We suggest that this is because high energy colours (blue and UV) are used by birds in short distance communication and that the blue feeder may have been the most detectable for the birds. We also suggest that red and yellow were unpopular because they are employed for aposematic colouration (toxins) in insects.

Applications of this research could include influencing the design of turbines or aeroplanes, to deter birds. 


Over 3000 feeder visits later...
Mean average percentage of visits to each feeder. Error bars show standard deviation. 







George Rabin & Ed Thurlow

Comments

  1. Bob and Diana27 March 2017 at 11:19

    Well done in Young Scientist of the Year, and the presentation on Points West this evening!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Woodlark31 March 2017 at 08:11

      Hello,
      I was amazed that we won too, and the finished project should be up here soon; it's got the overall data set and other conclusions. It was just a shame that Points West didn't show the far more interesting natural history side to the experiment, rather than the planes, the conclusions about which are not certain yet.
      Thank you! Keep reading,
      George

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