Crow Density Estimation

For the final project in a wildlife ecology class I took (Environmental Science, Policy, and Management-114), we had to estimate the density of a wildlife population for our final project. Given that I was studying statistics, I wanted to take the project a step further. I decided to compare the densities of two American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) populations, one in an urban area, and one in a more rural area; my hypothesis was that there would be a larger population of crows in an urban setting due to more food sources.

The data for this project was acquired by using one-stage cluster sampling techniques to sample grids from a predetermined area in two locations: Lucerne Valley, California, and Rossmoor, California. The number of crows was counted in each grid, and population estimates were constructed from these counts. Through my analysis, I ended up discovering that there were more crows in the rural environment, which I found surprising. This was a great project that allowed me to go out in the field and utilize the statistical skills that I had learned while studying an animal that I love.