Question

A behavioural ecologist records the number of times a kingfisher succeeds in catching fish over multiple five-minute intervals. Which one of the following distributions best describes these data?

• A. Chi-squared
• B. Normal
• C. Poisson
• D. Student’s t

Hint:

The Poisson distribution is often used when counting the number of events (e.g., successes or failures) that happen in a fixed interval of time or space.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understand the Poisson distribution.
The Poisson distribution is used to model the number of events that occur within a fixed interval of time or space, when the events happen independently and at a constant rate.
Step 2: Apply the Poisson distribution to the problem.
In this case, the number of fish caught by the kingfisher in each five-minute interval can be modeled as a Poisson process because the successes are discrete events occurring independently within a fixed time frame.
Step 3: Conclusion.
Thus, the number of successful catches is best described by a Poisson distribution.