Ornithology (BIOL 4142)

 

Spring 2013

 

Textbook:  No textbook required for lecture.  For lab, you will need Roger Tory PetersonÕs ÒA Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America,Ó which is available in most bookstores for 15-20$; Amazon has new copies for ca. $13 and used ones for $3 to $7.

¥  Lecture Schedule

¥  Lab/Field Trip Schedule

¥  Bird-banding bonus points

 

===============================================

future:

¥ eBird Animated Distribution Maps

¥ Lab Final

¥ Lab Final ID tips from former TA Brian O'Shea

* Lab Final – practice quiz from photos #1

                  practice quiz from photos #2

                  practice quiz #3 - Charadriidae

                  practice quiz #4 - Tyrannidae

                  practice quiz #5 - Scolopacidae

¥ Radar Ornithology

¥ Final Exam

 

*****************************

 

Old:

¥ Binoculars

¥ Breeding Bird Survey bonus exercise

¥ Christmas Bird Count data bonus exercise

¥ Bird Literature bonus exercise

¥ eBird bar chart bonus exercise

¥ Geological Time Scale ppt

¥ Enantiornithine Skeleton ppt

¥ Pattern of bird diversification ppt

¥  air-flow in bird lungs (a) and (b)

¥  Lammergeyer: the bone-eater

¥ Midterm (copy of 2004 version)

¥ Continental Drift - animated

¥ Continental Drift -- make a map

¥ Faunal Regions/Realms

¥ Field Notes bonus exercise (for Spring Break)

 

BIRD VIDEOS:

 

Leks and promiscuous solitary male displays:

¥ Blue Manakin

¥ Wire-tailed Manakin (the male is actually stroking the femaleÕs throat with the tips of its tail)

¥ Greater Bird-of-Paradise

¥ Blue Bird-of-Paradise

¥ Greater Sage-Grouse

¥ TemminckÕs Tragopan

¥ WilsonÕs Bird-of-Paradise

¥ GoldieÕs Bird-of-Paradise

¥ birds-of-paradise montage

¥ birds-of-paradise dance

 

Great vocalists:

¥ Superb Lyrebird (Menuridae)

¥ Palm Cockatoo (using stick as drumstick)

 

Feeding behavior:

¥ kingfisher videos (a) and (b) to illustrate dagger-shaped fish-eating bill in action.

¥ Rynchopidae: feeding behavior

¥ The killing foot in action: eagle catches fox

¥ The walks-on-floating-vegetation foot of the Wattled Jacana

¥ The cursorial behavior of the Sanderling

¥ The climbing foot and climbing tail in action: Wedge-billed Woodcreeper

¥ Sharp-beaked Ground-Finch (Geospiza difficilis) (blood-drinking)

 

WorldÕs great birds:

¥ Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex; Balaenicipitidae, a monotypic family)

¥ Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin; Opisthocomiformes, a monotypic order)

¥ Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus; a monotypic genus in the Cracidae)

¥ Satyr Tragopan (Phasianidae)

¥ Kakapo (Strigops habroptila; Psittacidae) – a flightless, terrestrial, partly nocturnal parrot of New Zealand.  And an example of loss of antipredator instincts in island birds.

 

Extinct:

¥ Kauai Oo (Moho braccatus; Hawaii)

*****************************

 

Useful Links

Louisiana Bird Resource Center

LOS (Louisiana Ornithological Society)

BIRDNET (Ornithological Council -- lots of useful info)

OSNA (Ornithological Societies of North America newsletter)

JOBS (job board == summer etc. jobs in bird biology)