Ornithology Lecture

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Carmine Bee tree2-F.Gallo.jpg

Carmine Bee eaters; Photo copyright Frank Gallo

Basic Course Information

Spring 2009

Meets: Monday & Wednesdays, 11:00 - 11:50, BPB 130

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 4260” in the subject line; email received without that phrase, and especially those with a blank subject line, will be DELETED without being read.

REVIEW SESSION FOR FIRST TEST IS CANCELLED due to weather


Teaching Assistant: Brian Hiller Office: PharmBio 404

Office Phone: 486-5896 Office Hours: MW 10 - 11 a.m.

email: brian.hiller@uconn.edu

Required text

ORNITHOLOGY, 3rd Edition (Freeman) by Frank B. Gill

See also online materials at: http://www.whfreeman.com/gill3e

Optional 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 BIRD LIFE AND BEHAVIOR (Knopf), ed. by C. Elphick, J.B. Dunning and D.A. Sibley.

Class Schedule

20 || Apr 8|| Social Behavior || Chapter 11 ||
Lecture # Date Subject (click for lecture notes) Required Reading in Gill Optional reading from Proctor & Lynch [in brackets], and other resources
1 Jan 21 What are birds and why would we study them? Pgs. xxi- xxvi and Chapter 1 [1–6]
2 Jan 26 Birds of the World Chapter 1 & online at: www.whfreeman.com/gill3e
3 Jan 28 SNOW DAY
4 Feb 2 Birds of the World, continued Chapter 1 & online at: www.whfreeman.com/gill3e
5 Feb 4 Climate Change & Birds Pgs. 269 - 271 US Forest Service Climate Change Bird (& Tree) Atlas showing how bird distributions will change with changes in climate.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's web page.

The Arbor Day Foundation's maps showing changes in hardiness zones since 1990.

NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's sea ice projections.

6 Feb 9 Avian evolution Chapter 2 [13 – 21]
7 Feb 11 Feathers Chapter 4 [81–115]
8 Feb 16 Flight Chapter 5 [117,136–139, 148–151, 156–163] Article and videos of wing-assisted incline-running!
9 Feb 18 Physiology: Endothermy and Thermoregulation Chapter 6 (pgs. 150-164)
10 Feb 23 Feeding, feeding structures and feeding behavior Chapter 1 (pgs. 13-15) [122–130, 152-154], Tool making in New Caledonian Crows!
11 Feb 25 Physiology: Digestion and Excretion; Water Balance Chapter 6 (pp. 164-179) [175-187, 219-239]
12 Mar 2 SNOW DAY -- no class REVIEW SESSION (3/2 at 5 pm) FOR FIRST TEST IS CANCELLED due to weather. Sorry. Wednesday's test will include ONLY material (and associated readings) that I lectured through, up to and including Wed, Feb. 25. Respiration and Circulation (and the associated readings) are NOT on the test.
Mar 4 Mid-term exam Lectures 1-11; all associated readings Click here to view a Sample Test
March 9-13 SPRING BREAK NO CLASS
13 Mar 16 Physiology: Respiration and Circulation Chapter 6 (141-150) [189-217]
14 Mar 18 Sensory Biology and Intelligence Chapter 7 [241-262] See Evidence that birds are smarter than you!
15 Mar 23 Communication: Visual Pgs. 344-359 Manakins show off -- Michael Jackson burns!
16 Mar 25 Communication: Vocal Chapter 8 Birds Rule on Vocal Mimicry
17 Mar 30 Annual Cycles Chapter 9
18 Apr 1 Migration Chapter 10 (pgs. 273-295)
19 Apr 6 Navigation Chapter 10 (pgs. 273-295)
21 Apr 13 Reproduction: Mating Behavior Pg. 359 through Chapter 13
22 Apr 15 Reproduction: Physiology Chapter 14 [219-239]
23 Apr 20 Reproduction: Nests and Nesting Chapter 15
24 Apr 22 Reproduction: Growth and Development of Young Chapter 16 (pgs. 467-482)
25 Apr 27 Reproduction: Parental Care Chapter 16 (pgs. 482-502)
25 Apr 29 Avian Conservation Chapter 21, AND pgs.558-569
May 8 FINAL EXAM ALL MATERIAL TO DATE 1:00 to 3:00 pm

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 on tests, minute papers, and other assigned activities (e.g., Twitters). The grades will not be "curved", and there will be no opportunities for "make-up" or "extra-credit" points. If you miss a test or minute paper, 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 test or minute paper, 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 tests and minute papers you did complete. NOTE that this method reduces the number of points you can afford to lose and still do well in the course.

Attendance is not taken, and is not required; however, if you miss class you may miss in-class minute papers (see below). As noted above, there are no opportunities for making-up missed minute papers.

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 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.


Tests/Minute Papers

COURSE POINT TOTAL 275 POINTS

Test 1: 100 points, March 4 (Covers material from Lectures 1-12)

Final: 125 points, May 8 (100 points are dedicated to material from Lectures 13-25, 25 points are dedicated to material from the WHOLE COURSE)

Click here to view a Sample Test

TEST TOTAL 225 points

Minute papers: are short (it takes a minute!), UNGRADED (if you write something relevant, you're good -- there are no "right" answers) responses to questions we will pose in class. They are worth 2 points each, and there will be 15 of them over the whole semester. Two points apiece may seem trivial, but it's worth remembering that, taken together, the minute papers are worth 11% of your grade, the difference between a B and an A. The questions on the minute papers are designed to provide us with feedback on your background preparation for certain material, to assess whether you understood what we just tried to teach you, and to prompt you to assess your own understanding of the material.

MINUTE PAPER TOTAL 30 Points

Out of Class Activities

Every student is expected to visit the EEB Biological Collections for a tour that will introduce you to the resources and opportunities in the collection. We will offer 5 different opportunities, on different days and times. You will need to sign in at the collection; at the end of the semester, everyone who has signed in, will have 5 points added to their grade. Tours will take about 45 minutes, they meet at the south end of the Biology/Physics building lobby on the hour. You are responsible for finding a day and time to attend from the options below; if your class schedule prohibits you from attending any of these, you are responsible for letting us know that you will need an alternate opportunity BEFORE THE LAST WEEK OF CLASS.

Available tour days/times:

Thursday, February 12, 11 a.m. (SH)

Wednesday, February 25, 10 a.m. (BH)

Thursday, March 5, 3 p.m. (SH)

Wednesday, March 18, 2 p.m. (ARG)

Monday, March 30, 10 a.m. (MR)

Thursday, April 9, 1 p.m. (SH)

Tuesday, April 14, 10 a.m. (BH)


BIOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS TOUR TOTAL 5 points

Twitter is a networking resource that allows users to communicate in short, frequent posts. Posts ("tweets") are limited to 140 characters. We expect you to go to Twitter, sign up (a matter of giving an email address and picking a password and username), and, over the course of the semester, post at least 5 times. Your posts should consist of any observation of birds you make that somehow relates to the content of the course. Each post should say: where you are; what you are seeing in the birdlife around you; and make the connection to the course content. For example: "Two sparrows are beating each other up outside the student union. Territoriality or dominance fight?" You must sign up with a username that allows me to "follow" you on Twitter: use your first initial/last name, thus Matthew McHenry would have a user name of mmchenry. If you find your particular username is already taken, pick something logical AND LET ME KNOW VIA EMAIL that you did so, and what your username is. All the class Tweets will appear here. We will be keeping track of posting and points during the semester by tracking the posts themselves. The beauty of Twitter is that it can be posted to virtually at any time, anywhere --- it's possible to post using many types of cell phones. However, anyone with an internet connection can post from a computer, and you should be mindful (as you are responsible for) of any texting charges that posting from your phone may incur.

TWITTERING TOTAL 15 points

Academic Rules/Conduct

All students should be aware of the guidelines on academic integrity contained in the Student Conduct Code. Click here to see the Conduct Code.

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.

The bird diversity table from our textbook (table 1.1 online) states that the New World Vultures are part of the Falconiformes like the Old world vultures. I'd thought you'd said in class, however, that they were part of the Ciconiiformes (because they'd devolved from long-legged wading birds)unlike the Old World Vultures. Am I remembering incorrectly? Nope, you are remembering correctly that I said it; good catch. The New World Vultures have been moved in, and out, and into the Falconiiformes; the hypothesis that they belong to the Ciconiiformes has only recently been overturned, and not everyone agrees that they should go back to the Falconiiformes. However, given that your book classifies them there, you should too.

I had a question about the 30 orders of birds we need to know for the exam. I wanted to know how many characteristics we need to know about each order? In addition to the characteristics do we need to just know the species number, example of a species, and distribution? You need to know the major characteristics that define the group --- the number of characteristics that might be will vary from group to group. You need to know: a) the scientific name (Latin) of the order (and spelling DOES count. I will not kill you if you are off by a single-letter, but I also won't guess whether you knew the name or not if you mangle the spelling); b) the number of species in the group (roughly --- if you are off by an order of magnitude, you'll lose points); c)their geographic distribution; and d) the common name(s) of the birds contained in the order. Thus, if I asked for Strigiformes, and you said "owls" that would be correct, but if I asked for "Charadriiformes" and you said "shorebirds" without also naming gulls and their other allies, that would be only partly correct.

For the exam, do we have to know ALL orders in the Palaeognathae and the Neognathae? Or do you want us to just know a few perfectly like in the practice exam? I expect you to learn all of the orders of living birds. The idea is for you to gain, and be able to demonstrate, a knowledge of all the orders of birds. To know a few orders "perfectly" without knowing anything about the other orders would be trivia for a cocktail party, not mastery of what we know about birds generally. Given that the test has to cover more than just this material, I am not likely to give you an opportunity to display all your knowledge of all the orders at one time, but I do expect you to learn them all, and the test will be structured to assess who probably knows them all and who doesn't.


I have a question about colors in birds. I understand that both types of color, bio-chrome pigments and structural, involve light energy. However, I don't quite understand how the refraction and absorption of light differ between the two. As of right now, the way I understand it is that pigments reflect and absorb certain wavelengths because of the specific chemical compounds they are comprised of while structural colors reflect and absorb certain (or all, for white) wavelengths of light due to their intrinsic structures ( i.e. uniform rows of melanin particle bubbles). Is this correct? That is essentially correct. It is pigmentation causes certain colors by absorbing certain wavelengths of light, and NOT absorbing others --- those not absorbed are reflected back at the viewer, making the pigmented object look red, or brown, etc. Those compounds do this, of course, because of the nature of their molecular structure. The real distinction is that what we refer to as "structural colors" appear as they do because of the structure of the cells that contain the pigments (or that lack pigments) and/or the arrangement of the pigment molecules inside the cells of the feathers.


Can I reschedule my final in this class because: a)I have more than one other exam on the same day as the final for this course; b)I am leaving town before the exam; c) I got sick the night before the exam; d) I overslept and missed the exam? Believe it or not, this is not up to me. There is a university-wide policy on rescheduling exams here. READ IT CAREFULLY NOW, and save yourself some trouble later. If you have an allowable reason to reschedule, see the registrar first, b/c I cannot help you without the registrar's permission slip.


I am/have been/might be sick, and it's difficult/inconvenient/impossible for me to get a doctor's note. Are you really going to refuse to excuse me if I don't show up for a minute paper/test/other credit-bearing exercise? The short answer to this is yes, I AM going to refuse to excuse you. The policy laid out above (in Grading) is simple --- some form of documentation is required before I will even consider excusing you. The policy exists to ensure fair treatment of everyone, to reduce the temptation to use feigned illness as a way to, for example, gain time before taking a test, and to avoid the need for me to have the discernment of Solomon in determining whether to excuse someone or not. It is simple because simple is unambiguous. You get documentation, or you cannot be excused. I am NOT encouraging you to come to class when you are sick. On the contrary, I urge you to eat right, get enough sleep, protect your health, and keep your germs to yourself. However, if you do get sick, and while sick find that getting some documentation is more burden than you can face, you are then faced with a choice --- is it worth a point? 10 points? 75 points? of your grade to do what has to be done to get some documentation of your condition? The choice is really yours --- I don't take your absences personally -- and the outcome of the choice is really your responsibility.

Bird News

A link to a page set up and maintained by Dr. Elphick.

Useful and Amusing Links

Wicked Nova Series on Four-winged Dinosaurs! Watch it here.


Jobs in Ornithology, the job board for the Ornithological Societies of North America. THE central clearing house for field research internships and jobs.

UConn Ornithology Collections Donation Page -- where to go if you find a dead bird!

University of Connecticut Biological Collections, including the Bird Collection.

Feather Identification Resource Online! The Feather Atlas of North American Birds provided high-resolution scans of flight feathers of the major groups of birds; useful for comparison with found feathers whose origin you aren't sure of.

Images of Bird Wings Online. The Slater Museum, at the University of Puget Sound, provides high-resolution images of their entire collection of spread (open) bird wings. Useful for studying flight style as a function of wing morphology.