THE PROJECT

Our project has established an ecological field site at Maltby Academy, where scientists and students are working together to study the behavioural ecology of birds. How birds behave tells us a lot about the selective pressures they face in their environment. Like us, birds have a limited amount of energy and resources, so they often face fitness trade offs. For example, birds may have to reduce the time they spend foraging in the breeding season in order to find a mate and build a nest.

Predicting how wild animals will react to changes in their environment (such as habitat loss and climate change) requires an understanding of how and why they behave the way they do. This is why behavioural ecology is important: Behavioural ecologists study why animals do the things they do – the evolutionary basis for their behaviour.

We hope our findings will inform the local community and beyond about how we can care for wild birds more effectively.

We have installed nest boxes and experimental feedings stations around the site, and are using wildlife camera traps to collect detailed observational data.

We are also using a range of experimental approaches to test hypotheses about bird feeding and breeding behaviour.