EEB 287: Ornithology Laboratory
Western Sandpiper; drawing copyright Bridget Keimel
Basic Course Information
Spring 2008
Meets: Fridays, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m, TLS 371
Instructor: Dr. Margaret Rubega Office: PharmBio 500
Office Phone: 486-4502 Office Hours: By appointment
Email: margaret.rubega@uconn.edu
Your emails to me MUST contain the phrase "EEB 287” in the subject line; email received without that phrase, and especially those with a blank subject line, will be DELETED without being read.
Teaching Assistants: Susan Meiman (susan.meiman@huskymail.uconn.edu) & Jason Hill (jason.hill@uconn.edu) Office: PharmBio 310 Office Phone: 486-3005 Office Hours: (Sue) MW 12:00 - 1:00 pm, (Jason)Th 11 am -1 pm
Required Texts
MANUAL OF ORNITHOLOGY (Yale Univ.), by N.S. Proctor and P.J. Lynch
BIRDS OF STORRS (Natchaug Ornithological Society) by G.A. Clark, Jr.
SIBLEY GUIDE TO BIRDS (Knopf), by D.A. Sibley.
Class Schedule
(very subject to change; check back before every lab)
| Date | Required Reading | Subject | Meeting notes, and other resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25 | P & L p. 274-281,286-287; Sibley p. 9-14; Clark p. 1-19 | Tools of the Trade: Optics, Field Guides, Field Notebooks | |
| Feb 4 | P & L p. 22-37, 47-65, 263-265; Sibley p. 15-21; Clark p. 21-40 | North American Bird Orders; topography & field marks | BRING YOUR FIELD NOTEBOOK |
| Feb 8 | Handouts | Field Techniques: Survey Methods | |
| Feb 15 | Handouts | Field Techniques: Behavioral Observations | |
| Feb 22 | Handouts | Opportunities in Ornithology - You Mean I Can Get Paid For This Stuff? | Bring your resume, if you have one. |
| Feb 29 | P & L p. 81-105 | Feathers & Aerodynamics | |
| March 7 | P & L p. 296-303 | Specimen collections: skins, skeletons, and other forms of specimen preservation | |
| March 14 | P & L p. 66-77, Chap. 5 | Feet, Beaks, and Body Form; Anatomy - Skeletons | |
| March 21 | MIDTERM EXAM; birding after | ||
| March 28 | NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK - GO BIRDING! | ||
| April 4 | P & L Chapters 6 & 7, 205-209, 219-226 | Anatomy - Musculature and Internal Organs | |
| April 11 | Sibley; herons, gulls, and ducks | Coastal Birding | 4 hour field trip -- we'll be out of the lab from 8-12. |
| April 18 | P & L p. 266-273 | Weather & Bird Movements | |
| April 25 | Carry overs, catch ups, birding | ||
| May 2 | Carry overs, catch ups, birding | ||
| May 5 | 8-10am | FINAL EXAM in TLS 371 |
Grading
Grading in this course is done on a straight percentage-of-points basis, i.e., to obtain an A, you need to earn 90% or more of the available points. The grades will not be "curved", and there will be no opportunities for "make-up" or "extra-credit" points. Attendance on the field trips is required. If you miss a field trip, you lose 10 points. If you miss a test, you will receive a score of zero. If you have a legitimate reason (click here for a sample of legitimate vs. lame excuses) to miss a field trip or test, you may be excused (at the discretion of the instructors) IF AND ONLY IF you provide written documentation (for example, a doctor's note documenting illness; an obituary documenting a death in your family). In cases where the instructors determine you have a legitimate excuse, there still will be no make-ups administered: you will be graded only on the basis of the points contained in the field trips and tests you did complete. NOTE that this method reduces the number of points you can afford to lose and still do well in the course.
These policies have been developed over years of teaching this and other courses, and are designed to ensure fair treatment of everyone by eliminating discrepancies in testing and evaluation, and by eliminating differences in the amount of field and study time available to students. I am very willing to discuss my reasoning for these policies, but if you try to talk me into making an exception to them for you, you will fail, and probably make me grumpy to boot.
Point Structure for Grading
COURSE POINT TOTAL 300 POINTS
Test 1: 50 points, March 3
Final: 100 points, May 5 (50 points for post-midterm material, 50 points for from material from the WHOLE COURSE)
Field Notebook: 30 points (more detail on grading this to come)
Independent Field Observations 70 points (more detail on grading this to come)
Field Trips 50 points (Field trips are required: you lose 10 points for every missed trip, 20 if you miss the all day trip. Note that field trips are VERY subject to change, depending on birds, weather, circumstances, and whim. Don't assume you know what you are going to miss.)
Academic Rules/Conduct
All students should be aware of the guidelines on academic integrity contained in the Student Conduct Code. The Conduct Code is available at http://www.dosa.uconn.edu/student_conduct.html.
Questions
If you have questions, by all means collar me or email me and ask. I will post both the questions (questioners will be anonymous) and answers here.
Useful and Amusing Links
Jobs in Ornithology, the job board for the Ornithological Societies of North America. THE central clearing house for field research internships and jobs.
David Sibley's Blog, wherein the field guide guy riffs mostly on the finer and philosophical points of bird identification, and reports his experiments in window treatments to prevent bird strikes.
