BIOEE 4752

Ornithology, Worldwide Avian Diversity Laboratory

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

Birds present a wondrous diversity of behaviors, ecological lifestyles, and appearances. This course provides an in-depth survey of the natural history and evolutionary relationships of all Orders and Families of living birds from across the globe. Cornell is the home of the Birds of the World online resource which provides background information on worldwide avian diversity, and BIOEE 4752 also makes extensive use of the avian specimen materials of the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, where the weekly lab sessions are held.

Prerequisites 1 year of college-level biology, environmental science, or the equivalent.

Last 4 Terms Offered 2023FA, 2021FA, 2020SP

Learning Outcomes

• List all orders of birds and the families they include.
• Recognize the main defining characteristics of each bird family, in relation to their geographic distribution, phenotypic characters, behavior and natural history.
• Assign bird specimens to their corresponding family and order.
• Recognize the systematic relationships between extant avian orders and their position in the avian tree of life, and become generally conversant with a 'tree thinking' perspective on biological diversity and phylogenetic relationships.

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