Ornithology Lecture

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Carmine Bee tree2-F.Gallo.jpg

Carmine Bee eaters; Photo copyright Frank Gallo

Basic Course Information

Spring 2010

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

Instructor: Dr. Margaret Rubega Office: PharmBio 500

Office Phone: 486-4502 Office Hours: Weds, 10-11 am, and 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.

Text

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

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

Optional supplemental 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

Feeding, feeding structures and feeding behavior | 9 || Feb 17|| Chapter 1 (pgs. 13-15)||[122–130, 152-154], Tool making in New Caledonian Crows!
Lecture # Date Subject (click for lecture notes) Required Reading in Gill Optional reading from Proctor & Lynch [in brackets], and other resources
1 Jan 20 What are birds and why would we study them? Pgs. xxi- xxvi and Chapter 1 [1–6]
2 Jan 25 Birds of the World Chapter 1 & online at: www.whfreeman.com/gill3e
3 Jan 27 Birds of the Worldcontinued Chapter 1 & online at: www.whfreeman.com/gill3e
4 Feb 1 Birds of the Worldcontinued Chapter 1 & online at: www.whfreeman.com/gill3e
5 Feb 3 Avian evolution Chapter 2 [13 – 21]
6 Feb 8 Feathers Chapter 4 [81–115] Also: Dinosaur feather colors revealed!
7 Feb 10 Flight Chapter 5 [117,136–139, 148–151, 156–163] Article and videos of wing-assisted incline-running!
8 Feb 15 Physiology: Endothermy and Thermoregulation Chapter 6 (pgs. 150-164)
10 Feb 22 Physiology: Digestion and Excretion; Water Balance Chapter 6 (pp. 164-179) [175-187, 219-239]
11 Feb 24 Physiology: Respiration and Circulation Chapter 6 (141-150) [189-217]
12 Mar 1 Sensory Biology and Intelligence Chapter 7 [241-262] See Evidence that birds are smarter than you!
Mar 3 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 15 Communication: Visual Pgs. 344-359 Manakins show off -- Michael Jackson burns!
14 Mar 17 Communication: Vocal Chapter 8 Birds Rule on Vocal Mimicry
15 Mar 22 Annual Cycles Chapter 9
16 Mar 24 Migration Chapter 10 (pgs. 273-295)
17 Mar 29 Social Behavior Chapter 11
18 Mar 31 Reproduction: Mating Behavior Pg. 359 through Chapter 13
19 Apr 5 Reproduction: Physiology Chapter 14 [219-239]
20 Apr 7 Reproduction: Nests and Nesting Chapter 15
21 Apr 12 Reproduction: Growth and Development of Young Chapter 16 (pgs. 467-482)
22 Apr 14 Reproduction: Parental Care Chapter 16 (pgs. 482-502)
23 Apr 19 Avian Conservation, Rare and Endangered Species Chapter 21
24 Apr 21 Avian Conservation, Population Monitoring pgs.558-569
25 Apr 26 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.

25 Apr 28 Lecture overruns, review?
May 5 (tentative) FINAL EXAM ALL MATERIAL TO DATE 10:30-12:30 am

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., Twitter). 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 (e.g., a death in the family) to miss a test or minute paper, you may be excused (at the discretion of the instructor) IF AND ONLY IF you provide written documentation (for example,an obituary documenting a death in your family). In cases where 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.

SICK? First, do your level best to let me know before you miss a class exercise/test. Second, if you are sick, believe me when I say that we don't want to see you in lab --- please be responsible, and don't spread germs by coming to class with a fever, or hacking and coughing. For illnesses, I pro-rate your grade on the basis of the point-bearing exercises you didn't miss. If you are sick for the final YOU MUST INFORM THE OFFICE OF STUDENT SERVICES in order to be allowed to take a make-up after final exam week is over. The final exam is the only point-bearing exercise for which a make-up is possible.

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 3 (Covers material from Lectures 1-12)

Final: 125 points, May 5 (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 10 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 7% of your grade, conceivably 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 20 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 4 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 me know that you will need an alternate opportunity BEFORE THE LAST WEEK OF CLASS. If you have already toured the collections (e.g., in a previous class with me or another instructor), provide me with documentation to that effect, and I will just add the 5 points to your grade without you needing to tour the collections again.

Available tour days/times:

Thursday Feb 11 9 am SH

Monday Feb 15 10 am DS

Friday Mar 5 3 pm MR

Tuesday April 6 1 pm ARG


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. I 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 10 times; 5 of your posts must be up by 5 pm on March 3. 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. Once your account is in place, then use "Find People" on Twitter to locate me (type in "Margaret Rubega" or "ProfRubega")and then click on "Follow" to follow me. I will receive an autumated message informing me that you are following me, and will then follow you. If you end every tweet with the string "#BirdClass", we will all be able to see every tweet generated by the class. 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 30 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.

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.



Bird News

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

Useful and Amusing Links

CT Beardsley Zoo Summer Internships

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.