Difference between revisions of "Field Ornithology"

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<span style="font-size: x-large">EEB 4262: Field Methods in Ornithology
 
<span style="font-size: x-large">EEB 4262: Field Methods in Ornithology
  
'''Intensive Summer Session, May 11th - 29th, 2015'''
+
'''Intensive Summer Session, May 8th - 26th, 2015'''
  
 
'''Meets:''' M-F, 7:30 am to 11:30 am, TLS 371
 
'''Meets:''' M-F, 7:30 am to 11:30 am, TLS 371
  
  
Instructor: '''[mailto:kevin.burgio@uconn.edu Kevin Burgio]'''
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Instructor: '''[mailto:holly.k.brown@uconn.edu Holly K. Milton Brown]'''
  
Office: Biol/Pharm 402
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Office: Pharmacy Biology Building, room 402
  
Email: kevin.burgio@uconn.edu
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Email: holly.k.brown@uconn.edu
  
Office hours: variable & flexible (email, drop by)
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Office hours: flexible (email to set up an appointment)
  
Website: [http://www.monkparakeetresearch.org UConn Monk Parakeet Research]
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Websites: [http://rubegalab.uconn.edu/hollybrown/]
 +
          [https://hollymiltonbrown.wordpress.com]
  
  
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'''Course Objectives'''
 
'''Course Objectives'''
  
Upon completion of this course, students will be proficient in taking field notes, basic bird anatomy, song structure, and identification skills needed to accurately identify bird species. Students will have instruction and experience in the following: bird survey design, the most commonly used bird census methods, and field-based behavioral observation. Lastly, students will be introduced to current statistical approaches used to analyze data collected in the field.
+
Upon completion of this course, students will have:
 +
1. acquired bird identification skills (by sight and sound).
 +
2. become proficient in taking scientific field notes.
 +
3. gained experience in common field techniques for studying birds
 +
4. developed an independent research project.
  
  
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5. Closed-toe shoes (no sandals) or hiking boots, & proper outdoor clothing (you may encounter poison ivy, ticks and biting insects, and/or bad weather)
 
5. Closed-toe shoes (no sandals) or hiking boots, & proper outdoor clothing (you may encounter poison ivy, ticks and biting insects, and/or bad weather)
  
'''Recommended'''
+
'''Strongly Recommended'''
  
1. Sibley’s Birding Basics
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1. Peterson's Birding by Ear: Eastern and Central North America
  
2. Peterson's Birding by Ear: Eastern and Central North America
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2. Peterson's More Birding by Ear: Eastern and Central North America
  
 
3. Insect repellent (ticks, mosquitoes)
 
3. Insect repellent (ticks, mosquitoes)
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!style="background:" width="300"|Topic
 
!style="background:" width="300"|Topic
 
|-  
 
|-  
| M 11 || Course introduction and timeline; Bird identification (Optics, Guides and Notes)  
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| M 8 || Course intro: syllabus, schedule, field safety; Intro to bird ID (Optics, Guides and Notes); Survey local birds
|| M 18 || Banding demonstration; notebooks (First Submission)
+
|| M 15 || Project proposal presentations & project selection; Start projects; Submit field notebooks for grading
|| M 25 || Independent project data collection (Final); data analysis
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|| M 22 || Finish data collection; Start data analysis
  
 
|-  
 
|-  
  
| T 12 || Topography and Field Marks Feet, Beaks and Body Form; Field exercises; Start projects 
+
| T 9 || NOTE: THIS CLASS WILL RUN 9AM-1PM. Topography and Field Marks: Feet, Beaks and Body Form; Banding Demonstration Field Trip
|| T 19 || Individual project presentations
+
|| T 16 || Data collection
|| T 26 || Survey of coastal birds  
+
|| T 23 || Survey of coastal birds  
 
|-  
 
|-  
  
| W 13 || Field research techniques, hypotheses testing, study design, and data analysis  
+
| W 10 || Field research techniques, hypotheses testing, study design, and data analysis  
|| W 20 || '''MIDTERM EXAM'''  
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|| W 17 || '''MIDTERM EXAM'''; Data collection
|| W 27 || Survey of local birds. Field notebooks (Final Submission)
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|| W 24 || Survey of local, off-campus birding sites; Submit field notebooks for a final notebook grade
 
|-  
 
|-  
  
| Th 14 || Survey of local birds, Review, Project guidelines discussion and selection
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| Th 11 || Field techniques, continued; Survey local birds
|| Th 21 || Individual project data collection I (Methods adjustment)
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|| Th 18 || Report on state of research projects; Discuss methodological revisions; Data collection
|| Th 28 || Review session in preparation for the final;
+
|| Th 25 || Research Presentations
 
|-  
 
|-  
  
| F 15 || Survey of local birds
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| F 12 || Research project guidelines & discussion; Survey local birds
|| F 22 || Individual project data collection II (Assisted)
+
|| F 19 || Data collection
|| F 29 || FINAL EXAM; Instructor evaluations
+
|| F 26 || FINAL EXAM; Instructor evaluations
  
 
|-  
 
|-  
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Exams:
 
Exams:
May 20st (MIDTERM)         [50 points];
+
May 17th (MIDTERM)         [50 points];
May 29th (FINAL) [50 points]
+
May 26th (FINAL) [50 points]
  
 
Activities and Quizzes:
 
Activities and Quizzes:
 
5 (10 points each)                                      [50 points]
 
5 (10 points each)                                      [50 points]
  
Final Project Presentation:
+
Research Project Proposal (Presentation & Discussions):
May 28th                                 [70 points];
+
May 15th                                 [50 points];
 +
 
 +
Research Project Presentation:
 +
May 25th                                 [50 points];
  
 
Field Notebook Submissions:
 
Field Notebook Submissions:
May 19th (First) [25 points];
+
May 15th (First) [25 points];
May 28th (Final) [25 points]
+
May 26th (Final) [25 points]
  
 
Field trips and birding exercises (5 points each):
 
Field trips and birding exercises (5 points each):
Dates will be weather dependent                    [30 points]  
+
Dates will be weather dependent                    [35 points]  
  
Total:         [300 points]
+
Total:         [335 points]
  
  

Revision as of 17:02, 2 May 2017

EEB3898flyer.jpg

EEB 4262: Field Methods in Ornithology

Intensive Summer Session, May 8th - 26th, 2015

Meets: M-F, 7:30 am to 11:30 am, TLS 371


Instructor: Holly K. Milton Brown

Office: Pharmacy Biology Building, room 402

Email: holly.k.brown@uconn.edu

Office hours: flexible (email to set up an appointment)

Websites: [1]

         [2]


Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will have: 1. acquired bird identification skills (by sight and sound). 2. become proficient in taking scientific field notes. 3. gained experience in common field techniques for studying birds 4. developed an independent research project.


Course Materials

Binos.jpg

Required

1. The Sibley Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America

2. Bibby CJ, Burgess ND, Hill DA, Mustoe S, editors. 2000. Bird census techniques. San Diego, USA: Academic Press

3. Binoculars (available from us if you don’t have any)

4. Field notepad/notebook (Pdficon small.gif Basic guidelines)

5. Closed-toe shoes (no sandals) or hiking boots, & proper outdoor clothing (you may encounter poison ivy, ticks and biting insects, and/or bad weather)

Strongly Recommended

1. Peterson's Birding by Ear: Eastern and Central North America

2. Peterson's More Birding by Ear: Eastern and Central North America

3. Insect repellent (ticks, mosquitoes)

4. Sunscreen

Tentative schedule - Note that because so much of what we do depends on the weather, the schedule is very subject to change!

Day Topic Day Topic Day Topic
M 8 Course intro: syllabus, schedule, field safety; Intro to bird ID (Optics, Guides and Notes); Survey local birds M 15 Project proposal presentations & project selection; Start projects; Submit field notebooks for grading M 22 Finish data collection; Start data analysis
T 9 NOTE: THIS CLASS WILL RUN 9AM-1PM. Topography and Field Marks: Feet, Beaks and Body Form; Banding Demonstration Field Trip T 16 Data collection T 23 Survey of coastal birds
W 10 Field research techniques, hypotheses testing, study design, and data analysis W 17 MIDTERM EXAM; Data collection W 24 Survey of local, off-campus birding sites; Submit field notebooks for a final notebook grade
Th 11 Field techniques, continued; Survey local birds Th 18 Report on state of research projects; Discuss methodological revisions; Data collection Th 25 Research Presentations
F 12 Research project guidelines & discussion; Survey local birds F 19 Data collection F 26 FINAL EXAM; Instructor evaluations



Grading

Exams: May 17th (MIDTERM) [50 points]; May 26th (FINAL) [50 points]

Activities and Quizzes: 5 (10 points each) [50 points]

Research Project Proposal (Presentation & Discussions): May 15th [50 points];

Research Project Presentation: May 25th [50 points];

Field Notebook Submissions: May 15th (First) [25 points]; May 26th (Final) [25 points]

Field trips and birding exercises (5 points each): Dates will be weather dependent [35 points]

Total: [335 points]


Grading scale: A = 100-90%, B = 89-80%, C = 79-70%, D = 69-60%, F = 59-0%. Plus/minus system will be used for the final grade.


Additional References & Websites

• Local Birds ID tool: http://www.whatbird.com/Expert/Expert.aspx

• MANUAL OF ORNITHOLOGY (Yale Univ.), by N.S. Proctor and P.J. Lynch: http://books.google.com/books?id=nQ3vLQkEWQMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=general+warbler+bill+shape#v=onepage&q&f=false

• Bibby CJ, Burgess ND, Hill DA, Mustoe S, editors. 2000. Bird census techniques. San Diego, USA: Academic Press.: http://books.google.com/books?id=Ld5wkzPp49cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bibby&ie=ISO-8859-1&cd=2&source=gbs_gdata#v=onepage&q&f=false

• Gill F. 2007. Ornithology. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. : http://books.google.com/books?id=zM0tG5ApO0UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ornithology+gill&hl=en&src=bmrr&ei=4iTsTfHvN4b2gAeg3o3ZCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

• Stiling P. 1999. Ecology: theories and application. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

• Clark, G. A. 1999. Birds of Storrs, Connecticut and vicinity. 3rd Ed. Mansfield, CT: Natchaug Ornithological Society & Joshua’s Tract Conservation and Historic Trust.

• SORA (Searchable Ornithological Research Archive): http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/index.php

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology “All About Birds”: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds

• Natchaug Ornithological Society: http://www.nosbird.org/ (esp. “local hotspots” http://www.nosbird.org/hotspots.html)

• Connecticut Ornithological Association: http://www.ctbirding.org/index.htm

• CT Audubon Society: http://www.ctaudubon.org/

• CT Department of Environmental Protection: http://www.ct.gov/dep/site/default.asp


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