WFB 130 Ornithology

Spring Semester, 2011

9:35 – 10:25 MWF, Hills 122

Catalog Description: Taxonomy, classification, identification, morphology, physiology, behavior, and ecology of birds. Prerequisite: Biology 1, 2, or equivalent.

Instructor: Ernie Buford, 115 Aiken Forestry Sciences Laboratory, 705 Spear Street, 656-3007. Email: ebuford@uvm.edu. I will have some on-campus office hours or you can make an appointment with me. Office hours are Monday, 10:30-11:00, and Thursday, 10:00-10:30 in Hills 207.

T.A.: Ben Griffith, Email: Benjamin.Griffith@uvm.edu. Ben is generally available to answer questions. Email him to set up an appointment.

Course website: http://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/wfb130/

Course format: This course will follow a rather traditional format featuring lectures with numerous slides, videos, bird specimens, films, and sound recordings. Approximately 12 optional field trips will be scheduled throughout the semester – there will be extra credit for attendance (0.5 points added to your final grade for each field trip attended; therefore you have the potential to increase your final grade by more than half a letter grade).

Grading:

Identification quizzes - 20% (4% each): 28 January (F), 11 February (F), 2 March (W), 25 March (F), and 15 April (F). The quizzes are cumulative; therefore all will count toward your final grade.

Paper – 15%

There will be one written assignment during the semester. The paper will be due in three installments throughout the semester with the final version due date is Monday 18 April. More detail will be provided in the coming weeks.

Field journal – 15%, due 2 May

Exams 1 and 2 - 30% (15% each) 18 February (F), 1 April (F)

Final exam - 20% (Friday 6 May 10:30-1:15 Hills 122)

Missed classes: I do not take attendance in class, but strongly encourage you to attend as your grade will improve with regular attendance. On the same note, there are too many students in the class for me to address individual issues with respect to missing quizzes and exams. If you are not present, you will receive a zero for that component of the class.

Textbook:

The required textbook is:

Gill, F. B. 2007. Ornithology, 3rd Edition. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, USA.

Recommended book, also at the UVM bookstore will be helpful for your field journal:

Murin, T., and B. Pfeiffer. 2002. Birdwatching in Vermont. University of New England Press.

Field guide: A field guide is optional, but strongly recommended. Because 30% of your final grade will be devoted to bird identification (20% for identification quizzes and 10% for your journal), a field guide will be an indispensable reference.

You can order field guides online from the American Birding Association (http://www.americanbirding.org/abasales/), or at bookstores in town. If you already own or have access to a field guide, you are probably all set, regardless of which guide you have available. Several field guides are available.

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America - The best field guide available, but only covers the eastern U.S.
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America - Best all around reference for the entire country.
Kaufman’s Birds of North America (photos) – Also good, although the photographs are sometimes not very illustrative of various plumages.
Grigg’s All the Birds of North America – An OK guide (doesn’t actually have all the birds in N.A.).
Peterson Guide to Eastern Birds (5^th edition) - A good basic field guide with excellent art work. Recently updated; only has birds east of the Rockies.
National Audubon Society Sibley Guide - The best overall source of identification information, but it is large and you will need big pockets to lug it around in the field.

As with any class, you will be expected to follow both the University’s student code of conduct:

http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmppg/ppg/student/studentcode.pdf

and the guidelines for academic integrity.

http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmppg/ppg/student/acadintegrity.pdf