From the organization:

Battling Birds: Panama Edition

Finished! Looks like this project is out of data at the moment!

Research

The Research

Join the Bird Cams Lab community and collect data for a new scientific investigation titled, “Battling Birds: Panama Edition.” Just like the first Battling Birds investigation, we want to document the interactions that play out between birds accessing food on a feeder. However, this time we'll be in Panama, watching the Panama Fruit Feeder cam!

A Gray-cowled Wood-Rail on the Panama Fruit Feeder cam.

What's Bird Cams Lab?

Bird Cams Lab is an online space where cam viewers and scientists co-create investigations based on the birds seen on cam. Everyone is welcome to participate and jump into investigations at any part of the scientific process: Observing birds on the cams; asking, discussing, and choosing research questions in online forums and live Q&As; collecting data using live and archived video; analyzing and interpreting results with visualizations, and sharing the findings online. One of the most recent co-created investigations is Battling Birds: Panama Edition and it is in the data collection phase.

What's Battling Birds: Panama Edition?


	Battling Birds: Panama Edition began back in November, when cam viewers teamed up with Cornell Lab researcher Dr. Eliot Miller to co-create a scientific investigation to better understand what is going on at the Panama Fruit Feeders when birds battle it out for access to food. Dr. Miller previously researched battling birds at North American feeders with Project FeederWatchers, and he’s excited to have joined forces with Bird Cams Lab participants to understand the interactions between tropical birds that visit the Panama Fruit Feeders.

Battling Birds: Panama Edition began back in November, when cam viewers teamed up with Cornell Lab researcher Dr. Eliot Miller to co-create a scientific investigation to better understand what is going on at the Panama Fruit Feeders when birds battle it out for access to food. Dr. Miller previously researched battling birds at North American feeders with Project FeederWatchers, and he’s excited to have joined forces with Bird Cams Lab participants to understand the interactions between tropical birds that visit the Panama Fruit Feeders.


With Dr. Miller’s help, our main goal is to understand the social dominance relationships of each species and create what is known as a “dominance hierarchy.” To do this, we will record when a bird attempts to take the perch or food of another bird–known as a “displacement.” Just as sports teams are ranked based on who they win or lose against, we can use the winners and losers of displacements to build the dominance hierarchy. Who's on top? Who's on the bottom?

With Dr. Miller’s help, our main goal is to understand the social dominance relationships of each species and create what is known as a “dominance hierarchy.” To do this, we will record when a bird attempts to take the perch or food of another bird–known as a “displacement.” Just as sports teams are ranked based on who they win or lose against, we can use the winners and losers of displacements to build the dominance hierarchy. Who's on top? Who's on the bottom?


	Over the span of a few weeks, Bird Cams Lab participants also shared their thoughts with each other and the research team on a Wonder Board. There, they discussed the most important data to collect that could influence displacements. After voting on a suite of potential factors, four garnered the most interest: type of food available, number of individuals present, whether physical contact is made, and the size of the species involved in the displacement. Therefore, we are collecting data on displacements as well as these important factors.

Over the span of a few weeks, Bird Cams Lab participants also shared their thoughts with each other and the research team on a Wonder Board. There, they discussed the most important data to collect that could influence displacements. After voting on a suite of potential factors, four garnered the most interest: type of food available, number of individuals present, whether physical contact is made, and the size of the species involved in the displacement. Therefore, we are collecting data on displacements as well as these important factors.

Join us for this ground-breaking research into the lives of tropical feeder birds.

Because this investigation is co-created by citizen scientists and researchers, we especially invite you to be an active member of our community on the Talk forums. Let us know what questions, ideas, and feedback you have as you collect data.

We also invite you to sign up to be a part of the larger Bird Cams Lab community and participate in the other remaining phases of the Battling Birds scientific investigation after data collection: data exploration, analysis, and sharing out results. Bird Cams Lab is an online space for you to join other cam viewers and scientists to co-create scientific investigations and make new discoveries! Sign up today.