Biology 460 Ornithology Web Page

Required Text:  Gill, F. (1995).  Ornithology.  2nd ed.  Chiron Press.  Gill's text best reflects current ornithological research, where ornithologists use birds to address a variety of questions of wide interest in biology.  It is well illustrated with figures from classic and recent studies.

Course goals:  First, by taking this course you should come to a better understanding of evolution, physiology, behavior and ecology through the study of the abundant examples in avian biology.  Second, you should acquire a basic competency in the study of birds yourself: you should be able to understand and use the vocabulary of ornithology, to describe the unique features of avian anatomy and physiology and their adaptive value, and to identify many common local birds by sight or sound or both.  You should be able to formulate reasonable hypotheses about questions in ornithology and suggest practical tests of those hypotheses.

Course requirements: Your grade for this course is based on your performance in both lecture and lab, 600 points from lecture, 400 points from lab.  You must have a passing average in both lecture and lab portions of the course to pass the course. Biology majors must receive a C or better to count this course towards major requirements.  There will be two lecture exams and a semi-comprehensive final, worth 150 pts. each. You will write one paper, worth 75 pts. Your participation in class is a significant portion of your grade: 75 pts.  This part of your grade takes into account your willingness to ask and answer questions during discussions, your coming to class prepared (having read the assigned readings), and your attendance and punctuality.  Forty-five of the 75 participation points will come from the three paper discussions (including the paper summaries you will write for them).

Attendance: I strongly urge you to attend every lecture and lab. Much of the testing material will be based on class lectures, films, etc.; therefore, to do well on tests you must attend lecture.  In addition, absences will cost points from the class participation part of your grade.

Cooperative Learning: Your contributions to the class are essential. Each of you comes from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and you are a unique educational resource. Your questions and observations are not only welcome but also expected in this class. If your preference is to be a passive learner in a classroom, you should drop this course. A portion of your grade will be based on your attendance, ability to ask questions, share observations, and listen respectfully to your colleagues questions and observations during class and during the two paper discussion sessions.

Academic Dishonesty: Discussion of lab homework problems is encouraged; however, you MUST supply the answers with your own reasoning and words. For the papers and article summaries, outright copying and paraphrasing will result in either a 0 on the paper or quiz or an F in the course for all the students involved. Quizzes and exams are closed book and cheating on a quiz or exam will result in an F in the course. Please come discuss any source of ambiguity prior to the quizzes or paper.

Problems: If you are having any problem with the course or feel unsatisfied with your progress, please come and see me. I will be available in my office for office hours and drop-in visits. If your native language is not English or you have a learning disability, please see me as soon as possible so special arrangements can be made for quizzes and discussions.

Your final grade will be determined by the following cutoffs:
                    900 - 1000 = A
                    870 - 899 = B+
                    800 - 869 = B
                    770 - 799 = C+
                    700 - 769 = C
                    670 - 699 = D+
                    600 - 669 = D
                    Below 600 = F
You will be assigned the same grade for lecture and lab.
 
 

Required Text: Kaufman  field guide to North American birds (or another guide - there are several options and we will discuss their relative merits during the first meeting).

Required equipment:  You will need a good pair of binoculars. We will discuss this at the first lab meeting.  You will need a bound notebook you can carry in the field.  By the second lab meeting, you will need to bring a blank 90 minute cassette tape to Dr. Hill.

Course requirements:  There will be two lab practicals, worth 50 pts. each, and 10 to 20 lab assignments/lab worksheets/lab quizzes/field quizzes, worth a total of 150 points.  You will keep a field notebook, which you must bring to every laboratory and field trip.  I will collect these three times during the semester, and grade them on completeness.  Notebook checks will be unannounced, and will be worth 50 pts total.  We will conduct a class research project on northern mockingbirds, and you will analyze and write up the data the class collects.  The mockingbird write-up will be worth 50 pts.   Participation is worth 50 pts. of your lab grade.  To get as many points as possible, show up on time for every lab and every field trip, come prepared and make good use of your time in lab, and think and talk birds while in the field.

Grading scale:  See lecture syllabus.
 
 

Each student will write one paper, early in the semester, on a current topic in ornithology. You may choose your own topic, but all choices must be approved by the instructor. One person per topic, first come first served. Whatever your topic, your paper must cite three to six relevant journal articles. Papers will be four pages long (not including literature cited). Papers will be graded on content, organization, and writing quality, in that order. You may revise and resubmit your paper one time. Papers are worth 75 points.
 

PAPER FORMAT:

typed

12 point serif font (e.g,. Times Roman, Palatino)

double-spaced

One margin 1.5" (for comments), other margins 1"

Other formats will not be read.

Cite references in the text in "Author Date" form.  For example: "A recent account says pigeons make 'Good eatin'' (Hampton 1999), although other authorities disagree (Staub et al. 1973, Dykstra and Backman 1986)."

Format the literature cited section (at the end of the paper) in the same style as is found in the Auk.  The library gets the Auk, and in each issue you should find "instructions to authors" which will spell out the style for the Lit Cited section.

Italicize all scientific names: Cyanocitta cristata.
 

PAPER SCHEDULE:

Wednesday, 31 January     Hand in provisional literature cited section (typed, in correct format) and complete copies of all your journal articles (these will be returned promptly).  If you have requested some articles from interlibrary loan and they haven't arrived, you may hand in printed documentation of your ILL request instead.

Wednesday, 21 February     Papers due

Friday, 2 March                   Graded papers will be returned

Friday, 9 March                     Deadline for submitting rewrites
 
 

 A NOTE ON PLAGIARISM AND CHEATING:

 The most valuable products of science are original thinking and reliable information. Presenting another person's words or thoughts as your own is therefore one of the most serious possible infractions.  If you use an idea in your paper that you read somewhere else, and that is not common knowledge, cite your source. If you use someone else's actual words, surround them with quotation marks, and cite the source. But keep direct quotes short. Any plagiarism on a paper will result in a score of zero for the paper. Presenting someone else's work as your own (i.e., copying all or most of your paper from someone else) will result in an F for the course.  I STRONGLY suggest you take a look at this web page listed below for pointers on how to avoid plagiarism.  "I didn't think what I did was plagiarism" will not be accepted as an excuse.
 

PICKING TOPICS AND FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES - SOME SUGGESTIONS:

1.  Kimbel library gets the major american ornithology journals - the Auk, the Condor, the Wilson Bulletin.  Pick the most recent couple issues of each and see if there are any articles on topics that interest you.

2. Use the Lit Cited section of one article to find other, related articles on your subject.

3. At the end of each chapter of your text are several references.  These are mostly review articles (articles that summarize the research of others, but don't present any new results).  These review articles can be a good entrance to the published literature on a topic.

4.  If you're focussing on a one or a few North American species, read the relevant species account in the " Birds of North America" collection in the reference section of the library.  These should summarize most of the recent publications on each species.

5.  Several internet search engines available through the library (e.g. Biosis) may help.
 

OBTAINING JOURNAL ARTICLES:

1. CCU's library has many relevant journals.

2. Interlibrary loan through CCU's library can get you almost any article, if you put your requests in early.  (The wait is usually 5-10 days).
 
 

Still can't think of a good term paper topic?

The American Bird Conservancy covers many conservation-of-birds issues, such as the lethal effects of pesticides, seabirds killed in longlining fisheries, and the side-effects of spraying to kill mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus.  If you're interested in conservation, browse their website for ideas, or drop by my office and borrow a newsletter.
 
 

It is essential that you read the appropriate journal paper before the day of the group discussion, and that you turn in written answers to the four questions about each paper, which are listed on the separate instruction sheet. Participation in the discussion will be more enjoyable and productive for you if you come prepared. Also, keep in mind that about 5% points of your course grade will be based upon your written answers to the four questions and your contribution to the group discussions.

Be a critical reader; try to identify the paper's strengths and weaknesses. As you read the paper, answer each of the following questions:

1 ) What hypothesis was tested in this study? What predictions were made from this hypothesis?

2) What experimental methods did the authors use to test their predictions? Were the methods appropriate to test the predictions? Why or why not?

3) What result(s) did the authors obtain? Do the results agree or disagree with previous studies of this question, as described in the paper's introduction?

4) What conclusions did the authors reach regarding their hypothesis? Do you agree with their conclusions? Why or why not?

Use these same questions to discuss the paper when you gather into groups. Following your group discussions, the entire class will discuss the paper. For each class discussion, a different group will be called upon to discuss one of the four questions shown above. Designate one member of the group to act as spokesperson for that day, in the event that your group is called upon. A different person should act as spokesperson each week.

Paper #1:  Tucker, V. A., T. J. Cade and A. E. Tucker.  1998.  Diving speeds and angles of a gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus).  201: 2061-2070.

Paper #2:  Knudsen, E. I., G. G. Blasdel and M. Konishi.  1979.  Sound localization by the barn owl (Tyto alba) measured with the search coil technique.  J. Comp. Physiol. 133: 1-11.

Paper #3:  Keller, L. F., P. Arcese, J. N. Smith, W. M. Hochachka and S. C. Stearns.  1994.  Selection against inbred song sparrows during a natural population bottleneck.  Nature 372: 356-7.
 

Written article summaries:

Title of journal paper:

Your Name:

Provide SUCCINCT answers below to each of the questions regarding today's paper.

1 ) What hypothesis was tested in this paper? 2) What methods were used? (Summarize) 3) What were the main results? (Summarize) 4) What conclusion(s) did authors reach regarding the hypothesis?
 
 

Intro to optics:

Reviews and recommendations:

Dr. Hill's recommendation:

Dealers:

Other Useful Links for this class

Carolinabirds Archive - the latest in birding reports from the Carolinas.  Find out what's being seen locally.

Gary Ritchison's fantastic ornithology pages - an excellent (and fun!) review/refresher for this course

 The seven fold path to better birding (by Stephen Ingraham)

Ornithological Jobs - looking for a field job next summer?  Why not fly to Alaska and watch kittiwakes?

Bird House Plans - actually, you have to do some serious clicking to get to actual plans at this site.  I'll bring good plans on Saturday.  You can get an idea of what birds use homemade boxes and platforms by clicking around this site, though.