As previously described, out of the 14 variables tested, 4 were found to have a significant effect on the amount of Eastern Curlews present within each Quadrat. The first variable, the penetrometer resistance was found to have a negative effect on the amount present. This means that the Eastern Curlews had a preference for softer substrate. This can be attributed to how they source their food, which is present in the substrate. The more resistance the substrate has, the harder and more energy required to reach the food needed. This tied back to migratory bird’s considerations and how their habitat is influenced by their migration as they aim to reduce the amount of energy expended, especially on retrieving food. This was also proven in previous literature, such as the 2007 paper written by Andrew Geering which shows that the Eastern Curlew has a preference for less resistance in the substrate.
The hydrometer reading found there to be very similar substrate texture throughout all 22 quadrats with 17 recording a reading of 0 which is a composition of 100% sand and 5 recording a composition of 99.95% sand.
The wind speed was found to have a positive significant effect with more curlews present during more wind. This goes against previous literature by …show more content…
There are two hypotheses for why this factor occurred. The first is that as low tide gets closer, the birds become further away and thus harder to see. This variable may have been influenced by the amount of visibility and thus a more powerful spotting scope is recommended for future studies. The second hypothesis is that as the birds migrated, there were less present and therefore it took a quicker amount of time to count the amount of birds and thus there might be a relation between the birds migrating and quicker sampling times which could have been the influencing factor in this significant
The hydrometer reading found there to be very similar substrate texture throughout all 22 quadrats with 17 recording a reading of 0 which is a composition of 100% sand and 5 recording a composition of 99.95% sand.
The wind speed was found to have a positive significant effect with more curlews present during more wind. This goes against previous literature by …show more content…
There are two hypotheses for why this factor occurred. The first is that as low tide gets closer, the birds become further away and thus harder to see. This variable may have been influenced by the amount of visibility and thus a more powerful spotting scope is recommended for future studies. The second hypothesis is that as the birds migrated, there were less present and therefore it took a quicker amount of time to count the amount of birds and thus there might be a relation between the birds migrating and quicker sampling times which could have been the influencing factor in this significant