MY NASA DATA Science Project Ideas

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Science Project: Birds and Climate	Image courtesy Henry Chambers, III
Web Id: P8
Purpose: To explore the connection between a local event (timing of bird migration) and climate conditions.
Age Range: 8-99
Time Required: Varies depending on the specifics of the project you would do in your area. If timing of bird migration is the focus, then daily observation will be required for some time starting before the anticipated date of arrival; or after the anticipated date of departure.
Background: See article by Jack Connor: 'The Feast of Optical Illusion'. You may have heard about the Cliff Swallows of San Juan Capistrano in California, which are said to return each year on March 19. There are similar stories about other bird species in various places. But are these stories really true? Or might birds instead migrate following some signal other than the human calendar?
Significance: Learn about what might control the migration of birds and other species in your area, and how that might be impacted by human activities or climate changes.
Project Links: Birding for Beginners Bird article from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Real Time Data Source: Real-time weather information is available from a variety of sources, including your local paper, or TV or radio station, The Weather Channel, and websites like Weather Underground where you can access information from privately operated weather stations that may exist in your local area.
MY NASA DATA Source: The Live Access Server contains a number of parameters that will give you historical information on conditions that could affect bird migration. These include surface temperature, snow and ice state, vegetation-related information, sunlight (SW Downward Flux under a variety of conditions), air quality and aerosols, clouds and precipitation.
Project Ideas: Find out what are some major migratory bird species in your area, and begin a regular program of observation to note their presence or absence, and maybe some behaviors, on a daily or weekly basis. Explore a variety of parameters by recording weather data or exploring the historical record available in the LAS to look for factors that may affect migration dates. As you build up a set of observations, make some hypothese about what might be affecting the timing of migrations and other bird behaviors.
Analysis Ideas: Once you have a reasonable record of observations, compare the timing of bird migrations to climate parameters that might have an impact in order to look for connections.
Related Projects: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has lots of ideas for bird-related projects, including a number of ways that volunteers and citizen scientists can be involved.
Questions: Can you find a single climate parameter that controls the timing of bird migration? Or do you find several parameters that interact to control the timing? Which type of climate parameters seem most important for the particular species of bird?
Going Further: Is there another animal species besides birds that has a significant migration in your area? Consider studying butterflies, fish, or other species in comparison to climate and weather information. Can you apply similar techniques to the timing of plant events in your area? For example, time of budburst, leaf out, flowering, fall color change, leaf drop.
Project ideas contributed by Lin Chambers

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