Question

Go to the Cornell University "All About Birds" website. Once thesite loads, type in the name of one of the four birds listed andclick “Go”. When the “Results” page appears, click on the pictureof the bird you searched. This will take you to a page specificallyfor that bird. Using the tabs, look at the range map and lifehistories of each bird. Under the life history tab, you will findinformation regarding habitat, food, nesting, behavior andconservation. You will need to do this for eachbird.

• Double Crested Cormorant (Cormorants)
• Great Blue Heron (Herons)
• Wood Stork (Stork)
• American Robin (Thrushes)

Using the information provided in the website, answer thefollowing questions. If generalist/opportunistic species arewidespread and more or less uniformly distributed, which of thesespecies would you categorize as generalists and which might bespecialists with narrow niche preferences or environmentaltolerance ranges? Pay special attention to the species climaterange, presence in densely populated areas, and evenness of theirdistribution throughout their range. You may want to look at theprecipitation, biome, and climate maps across their range. Also,their diet also helps because a specialist eats only one or twothings while a generalist may eat several different prey items. Iwould also suggest you do a Google search of each species to gathermore information. Submit your paper to the appropriate folder inthe Dropbox area of the course. There are right and wrongclassifications on this assignment.