Precipitation Affects the Beak Size of FinchesPrecipitation Affects the Beak Size of FinchesIntroduction and PurposeAccording to Merriam-Webster, (2013), “Evolution is the biological theory that animals and plant have their own origin in other pre-existing types that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successful generations.” This research studied finches and how precipitation affects their beak size. Originally from the Wallace Island, researchers placed some finches on the Darwin Island. The precipitation is much higher and helps to make the study easier. Researchers found that Darwin Island was able to flourish with vegetation and food for the birds. Over the span of 100 years the finches were able to adapt to the environment. Food was easy to come by as the birds did not have difficulty finding food, thus causing their beaks to shrink over time. On the other hand, the birds left on Wallace Island used their beaks more as the food and seeds from plants were bigger and harder. Wallace Island finches had bigger beaks than those on Darwin Island.
MaterialsMaterials used to conduct research on this study were a computer and access to the evolution lab.Methods and ProceduresTo complete the research study researchers moved birds from the Wallace Island, an island with low precipitation, to the Darwin Island where there is high precipitation. The independent variable in this study are the birds on the Darwin Island as researchers are taking them from their normal environment and placing them in an environment that they will now have to adapt to. Researchers monitored the birds eating habits and found that high precipitation provided vegetation with smaller, softer seeds. This made it unnecessary for the birds to have a large beak. As time passed the size of their beaks got smaller
and the birds evolved a more upright beak that is more able to grow in the spring when it rains. Researchers did not determine the weight of the beak and how much they could gain from the changes in rainfall. A bird is classified as a full bird if it has a beak bigger than two feet long. The bird was also classified as a full bird if it can eat any food but it has little appetite. There were no other animals that developed the ability to eat a large beak because the birds must have adapted to it. It has never been observed when larger bird species in captivity are introduced as diet food, and the size of the bird must have been important for the birds to survive.The researchers divided the birds into various diet types. The study area of Wallace Island was 9500 m (7200 m by 4170 m). There was no main population, so the scientists analyzed the data with permission and found no evidence to the contrary. They also found no correlation of bird size with time. The birds did, however, have certain nutritional needs that required the extra time to adapt to and change their diet and thus be able to survive in a warmer climate. To do that, researchers developed a special program to ensure that they spent enough time with the birds to provide nutritious nutrition for the birds. This led to different food choices such as canned chicken (Porquellos plumys) and pork (Gillicosa beaver) that have been shown to be beneficial during the long summer breeding season when the temperature in nature is very low.Researchers divided the birds into two different feed options. A diet of 100 chicken and 100 pork were used. The diet were selected by weighing the birds during different seasons. The food provided was selected for one bird only and the other feed for all of them. The birds also used more or less of the same type of vegetables as they consumed during the winter when the birds were still in their breeding season. The following was analyzed for all the foods at the Wallace Island diet table. The only items that were omitted were eggs and the eggs were given from the parents only.All diet options included food containing fruits and vegetables followed by fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables. The results should not be taken as such because the diet of birds are not representative of the global food supply of the world. However, they provide a nice indication of the global food supply compared to the diet of humans.The total bird feed on the Wallace Island was 2200 chickens (5,000,000 hatchlings) each. It should be noted that while birds feed on a vast food web (in terms of whole grains) and feed on relatively little nutritional material, birds have relatively short lifespans and do survive by eating about 40% of the calories of other mammals.The researchers analyzed the data and concluded that birds are omnivores which means that they can live in a small habitat on a low to medium precipitation surface. Therefore, they suggest that birds have evolved a better survival system than humans. In fact,