Foraging Behavior Of House Sparrow In Destiny USA Mall

House Sparrow Name: Institution: Course: Date: House Sparrow Foraging Behavior of Passer Domesticus in Destiny USA mall, Syracuse New York Background The Passer Domesticus which is also referred to as the House Sparrow, was first introduced in the United States by the English ships that came to dock at the Brooklyn New York shoreline. Today, they are found across the United States and have since been introduced on the Island of Hawaii. They are among the top invaders in the country (Kight, 2012). This is especially the case when considering the level of vigilance they put in when colonizing various areas (Dunn, 2018). Their numbers have dwindled in the last several decades. Some of the attributable factors include poor diet, high levels of pollution, oxidation damage when compared to the rural birds (Herrera-Dueñas, Pineda-Pampliega, Antonio-García & Aguirre, 2017). It is quite interesting to note that, the House Sparrow does not need to be managed since they tend to be independent of the rest of the species (Dueñas, 2018). They are able to source for their own food and they get novel places to set up their nests for rest (House sparrow: Passer domesticus, 2018). As the Carousel Center opened in the year 1990 they were the first to settle at the Destiny USA. However, most of the house Sparrow that took up dwelling during the construction, are now locked into the ecosystem that could be considered to be a novel (Pennsylvania State University, 2018). The house sparrow is a bird that can be considered to be endearing, it is friendly and is almost always present throughout the year (Connor, 2002). It is referred by the biological name Passer Domesticus. However, it also referred to as the House sparrow or in other circles the English sparrow (House Sparrows - Their Mating, Nesting, and Feeding Habits, 2018). It is quite common across the world and can be considered to be one of the most abundant small birds across the continents. It is classified under the Passeridae family in the order Passeriformes. It is a bird that has been known to live on farms and most importantly in this case, in towns (National Geographic, 2018). As such, there is a strong relation between the bird and the presence of humans. As mentioned above, coming to America, the bird accompanies the Europeans from their original home, which is mostly from Northern Africa and Eurasia. It was first introduced to America in Brooklyn in North America in the mid-19th century. Within a century, the bird had spread across the continent (Shochat, Lerman, Katti & Lewis, 2004). This is a bird that is roughly 14 centimeters or 5.5 inches (House Sparrow - Passer domesticus - Details - Encyclopedia of Life, 2018). It is buffy brown and comes with a black bib for the males alone. They feed mainly on grains as well as seeds. Over the years they have also been known to feed on animal feeds and discarded foods (Skórka, Sierpowska, Haidt, Myczko, Ekner-Grzyb & Rosin, Z. et al., 2016). This last part is the focus of the paper, where the sparrows are known to live close to the humans in the cities, especially where there are food sources such as is the case with the Destiny Mall food courts. They have also been known to catch small insects from the air around them by pouncing on them (Elgar, 1986). It is also common that they will follow the lawn mower and in some of the cases they will be seen near the visiting lights at dusk (Anderson, 2006). When it comes to nesting, the bird have been known to use holes on buildings, roofs and overhanging fixture among others (Roof, 2018). In building that offer the nesting boxes, the sparrows are seen to have a strong competition as they displace the other birds and take up the space (Imboma, 2014). The nest is going to be composed of coarse vegetation which will be stuffed in the hole(Bonter, Zuckerberg, Sedgwick & Hochachka, 2013). The birds will then use the finer material, such as feathers, paper and fibre among others. In reference to their behavior, the sparrows have been known to be highly social, feeding in crowds as they squabble over crumbs (India Together: The Sparrow: Concerns and conservation: Deepa Mohan, 2013). This is a common behavior of the sparrows when they live among the humans. It is also the behavior that is important for this research, relative to the fact that, they live in the Mall around the food court for the crumbs that are dropped by the humans (Fitzwater, 2018). It is this that they pick up and they form in a large part which is the reason for their establishments at the Mall. Purpose Statement How do humans affect the foraging behavior of the house sparrows living in the Destiny Mall USA? Research Question How does the group size of the humans that visit the food court at the Destiny USA Mall affect the foraging behavior of the Sparrows living at the Mall? Hypothesis The House Sparrows are projected to increase their foraging behavior when more humans gather in the food court. Research Objective * Studying the population of the house sparrows that live in the Destiny USA food court. * Observe the foraging behaviors of the house sparrow. * Determine if the house sparrow correlates with humans and their source of food. Method To determine the foraging behaviors of the house sparrow in relation to the humans and the food court, it is crucial to establish the patterns that birds have established at the Destiny Mall USA. To achieve this, the research will first involve the process of counting people who are present at the Mall. These are people that are present at the Mall within the food court. Then the number of the house sparrows that are within the food court (Tsurim, Abramsky & Kotler, 2008). The counts will be done in a pattern such as to include, one hour intervals between the data collection instances. After the data is collected, it ...