Robert Saffioti, Melvin Escobar, Tony Liang, Arslan Habib
Our project touches on the relationship between the eco-geographical characteristics of Prospect Park, Central Park, and Bronx Park (Independent Variable) and the sighting numbers of red-tailed hawks, Cooper’s hawks, and peregrine falcons (Dependent Variable).
Which of these three parks are the best for sustaining the largest number of hawks and falcons? Central Park, Prospect Park, or Bronx Park?
To find this out, three of us visited and analyzed these three parks individually, analyzing them as habitats, while one of us would gather the number of sightings of these three raptor species recorded on iNatutalist from 2019-2022.
We want people to take away that there are many factors to consider when it comes to the survival/adaptation of a species in an unfamiliar environment, and some are ones we may not expect. Even though Central Park was low in trees and foliage compared to other parks and higher in human attraction, it yielded the highest number of raptor sightings.
