Researchers studied the behavior of birds that were searching for seeds and insects in an Oregon forest. In this forest, 54% of the trees are Douglas firs, 40% are ponderosa pines, and 6% are other types of trees. At a randomly selected time during the day, the researchers observed 156 red-breasted nuthatches: 70 were seen in Douglas firs, 79 in ponderosa pines, and 7 in other types of trees.

a. Do these data provide convincing evidence that nuthatches prefer particular types of trees when they’re searching for seeds and insects?

b. Relative to the proportion of each tree type in the forest, which type of trees do the nuthatches seem to prefer the most? The least?