As scientists, we have come to this island to observe the evolution of finches when forced into an unfamiliar habitat with a changing food supply. We believe our finch, Pherous robustus, will have a good chance at survival because its beak will allow for the finch to grasp many different seed shapes and sizes. During our first 5 years, corn grew well on the island. Our finch population steadily increased during this time period. Our finch was very well adapted to eating the corn because it was very easy for our finch to pick up.During the next five years there was a drought and only block plants grew. Our finch population steadily decreased during this time period because our finches could not pick up the seeds. They were much too large for their medium sized beaks. Our finches were not well adapted to the block plant seeds.During the 10 – 15 years, the block plants died out and the pony bead plants took over. The pony bead seeds were very tiny, however our finch was versatile enough to handle the seeds. During this time period our finch population grew slightly because the seeds could be picked up, but with more difficulty than the corn.During the final generations of our finches the drought ended and all types of foods could be grown again. In this type of environment, our finch population steadily increased because the corn and the pony beads were both present as well as the harder to pick up blocks.Our hypothesis was correct for the most part, however we thought our bird would be more versatile than it really was. Our finches had a very hard time picking up the block seeds because of their very large size. Our finch was very well adapted to picking up seeds smaller than its head. The corn was the ideal seed for our finches but the pony beads were edible when the conditions changed.Data TablePopulation Per YearSpecie1234567891011121314151617181920Pherous robustus153157167170172164155149146141140140140137136139143146149152Twee...
