Why study Painted Buntings with the help of Citizen Scientists?
Since Painted Buntings readily visit backyard bird feeders, citizen scientists can easily participate in a variety of data generating components that aid us in comparing Painted Bunting populations breeding in suburban, rural and natural habitats, from the coast to more inland areas. Along with backyard banding, these data can include quantifying demographic parameters such as population distribution, density and abundance; productivity and adult survival; and, behavioral patterns of site-fidelity and habitat use. The citizen science approach, where volunteer observers aid scientists in data collection, has become a useful means of investigating large-scale questions related to a variety of avian research. A focused citizen science approach will include better coverage of targeted habitats on a landscape scale than ones that do not, and many times these programs represent the only method available to relate large-scale changes to biodiversity in urban and rural areas.
