Question

Seagulls by the seashore Do seagulls show a preference for where they land? To answer this question, biologists conducted a study in an enclosed outdoor space with a piece of shore whose area was made up of $56\%$ sand, $29\%$ mud, and $15\%$ rocks. The biologists chose $200$ seagulls at random. Each seagull was released into the outdoor space on its own and observed until it landed somewhere on the piece of shore. In all, $128$ seagulls landed on the sand, $61$ landed in the mud, and $11$ landed on the rocks.

a. Do these data provide convincing evidence that seagulls show a preference for where they land?

b. Relative to the proportion of each ground type on the shore, which type of ground do the seagulls seem to prefer the most? The least?

Short answer

Part (a) There is enough data to back up the assumption that seagulls have a preference for landing spots.

Part (b) Most preferred ground is sand and least preferred is rocks.

Step-by-step solution

 Part (a) Step 1: Given information

Part (a) Step 2: Explanation

The null and alternative hypotheses:

$$\begin{gathered} H_0:p_1=0.56,p_2=0.29,p_3=0.15 \\ {H}_a:Atleastoneofthe{p}_i’sisincorrect. \end{gathered}$$

Using excel,

Decision: $P-value<0.05,reject{H}_0$

There is enough data to back up the assumption that seagulls have a preference for landing spots.

Part (b) Step 1: Explanation

Sand is the most favored ground in terms of relative percentage, whereas rocks are the least preferred.