Procedure

The monk parakeet is native to South America.  In order for our study to be successful, we needed to research the climate of South America for the month of October.  Being that the continent is vast with temperatures varying from 50-96 degrees Fahrenheit, we averaged the different regional temperatures and decided that 60 + degrees would be considered "warm" whereas 59degrees and below would be considered cold; (at least for the purposes of our study).

Somehow, the monk parakeet has migrated from its native habitat to Brooklyn, New York.  (There are many urban legends as well as farces to explain the migration.)  We have noticed different nesting locations for the monk parakeets around the Midwood section of Brooklyn; more specifically, near Brooklyn College.  Two such nesting locations are in treetops as well as in the vicinity of the Brooklyn College Heating Plant.  We define vicinity as the Avenue H and Ocean Avenue parking lot entrance to Brooklyn College as well as the library extension located at the Brooklyn College Athletic Field.

Naturally, our instincts led us to believe that on a cold day a monk parakeet would more readily nest in the vicinity of the Brooklyn College Heating Plant than a treetop nest.  We made this assumption merely because it made sense.  The heating plant generates heat and therefore would be a warmer nesting location.

We divided our group into 2 subgroups- A and B.  Group A would observe the treetop nests and Group B would observe the nests in the vicinity of the heating plant.  We recorded our observations by using video cameras as well as digital cameras.  We decided that we would observe the monk parakeets for 6 days.  Therefore each subgroup observed the monk parakeets on 3 warm days and on 3 cold days.   In order to ensure accuracy, each subgroup began their 60-minute observations at 4pm.

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