What is our project about?
When you think of iconic animals in New York City, what comes first in your mind? Rats? Raccoons? Pigeons? … Ducks?
We think ducks.
Our project dives into the dynamic lives of New York City’s ducks by analyzing the migration patterns of 11 unique duck species by examining how seasonal changes impact their urban life. We aim to showcase the reasoning behind why ducks migrate during certain seasons of the year. Choosing this topic was driven by our curiosity about how wildlife adapts to urban environments, with a focus on ducks due to their visibility and ecological significance.
Our Process
After choosing 2022 as our base year (first year post-COVID-19), we narrowed our analysis from 27 duck species down to 11 based on duck presence/absence in the city and if there is enough data on the duck to analyze. Extracting data from iNaturalist and eBird and sorting each species based on the behavioral group, we graphed their general trends and noticed correlations on how temperature, precipitation, and other factors influence their population count throughout the year.
We hope that this project not only enriches our understanding of urban bird ecology but also fosters a deeper appreciation for the coexistence of wildlife and city life. We aim to inspire awareness and conservation efforts for the diverse avian species that share our urban landscape.
So the next time you see a flock of ducks flying about, now you’ll know why!
Created by Sehr Abrar, Sazeda Kabir, and Lilly Minchala
Thank you for reading!
yassira
December 10, 2023 — 1:31 pm
I like the fact you utilized iNaturalist to its fullest extent, for my group’s project we struggled to use iNaturalist for fish observations, so we had to contact an organization. I also enjoyed looking at the well-detailed captions of the duck with respective images. Having a section specifically on “why this matters?” is also important so that viewers can automatically refer to that if need be. Great work!
Chris
December 16, 2023 — 4:11 pm
This is a nice research poster! I had no idea that ducks had a preference for cold climates, and your data clearly shows that conclusion. What’s even more crazy is that these ducks be swimming in the cold water! Thank you for sharing your research!