Bird Sightings in London area (1 Viewer)

[jakewishart]

Hey all, im Jake!
I am currently carrying out a research task for a project at University, In this task i am trying to find out how commonly Ring-necked Parakeets are sighted in London compared to that of some other common species.

I would greatly appreciate if i could get responses from avid Bird watchers, as i am sure that the results would be a lot more accurate. All data i collect from the form will be used solely for my assignment and will go no further.

There is a link to the form attached, i would be extremely greatful if even just a handful of people from this site reply!

https://forms.gle/CvXH1A4xoW6MAC1RA

 

[Nutcracker]

Just London, or other areas too?

Your link is just a blank white page though!

 

[aeshna5]

They're just about everywhere in London these days so will be encountered daily by London birders without any effort.

 

[Farnboro John]

They're so common that when Kings Troop RHA gun salutes are fired in the parks, on TV you can hear the calls of startled Ring-necked Parakeets in the background.

But the original question related to frequency compared to other bird sightings. Feral Pigeons win hands down because the dratted things are under your feet everywhere all the time in central London whereas the parakeets sit in cover and draw attention to themselves only when calling in flight. It's not a helpful question to ask and answer really.

John

 

[KenM]

Hey all, im Jake!
I am currently carrying out a research task for a project at University, In this task i am trying to find out how commonly Ring-necked Parakeets are sighted in London compared to that of some other common species.

I would greatly appreciate if i could get responses from avid Bird watchers, as i am sure that the results would be a lot more accurate. All data i collect from the form will be used solely for my assignment and will go no further.

There is a link to the form attached, i would be extremely greatful if even just a handful of people from this site reply!

https://forms.gle/CvXH1A4xoW6MAC1RA

They’re certainly not the most abundant avian species Jake albeit probably one of the most vocal. You should carry out...say half a dozen transects through a number of London parks noting the RA (relative abundance) of species encountered e.g. over a pre-determined route...3 Great Tit, 4 Blue Tit, 5 feral Pigeons, 1 Greenfinch, 2 Robins, 3 Ring-necked Parakeets etc. This way you’ll find personal satisfaction in answering your own question and not have to rely on the efforts of others whose opinions may be less reliable than your own. :t:

 

[kb57]

I know that citizen science can provide some good data - RSPB Garden Birdwatch and a host of BTO projects spring to mind, but I fail to see how you are going to get meaningful data from your survey form - it's just way too subjective. Unless you keep a daily list (and only the keenest of urban birders will do so) people (birders included) are not going to remember how many times they saw a particular species in the past week. Surveys such as Garden Birdwatch apply a standardized time frame - it may have be better to ask people to spend half an hour of their lunchbreak in the following week and note what they saw.

I didn't get to the end of the survey form, but presumably you'll have to apply a behavioural correction for people who get out into parks every day vs. people who commute by tube, and correct for ID skill level. And it isn't helpful at all if 'a few' people complete your survey, you need big sample sizes to correct for messy input data.

Sorry to be negative - I did teach ecology at Uni in the distant past and understand you can't write a PhD in a module assignment - and apologies if you have already thought through stuff like minimum viable sample size, and how you are going to analyse your data. Happy to be proven wrong, so hope you'll provide a link to your results on BirdForum.