BIOEE 4750

Ornithology

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2017-2018.

Lectures cover various aspects of the biology of birds, including anatomy, physiology, systematics, evolution, behavior, ecology, and biogeography. Laboratory includes dissection of dead material, studies of skeletons and plumages, and specimen identification of avian families of the world and species of New York.

When Offered Spring.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: 35 students.
Prerequisites/Corequisites Recommended prerequisite: BIOEE 2740.

Distribution Category (PBS-AS)

Comments Carpooling or taking the shuttle to the Lab of Ornithology is necessary. Occasional field trips and special projects. Students should enroll in the course and then complete a questionnaire form available in E241 Corson Hall.

• To be able to identify and describe the key components of all avian organ systems and compare them with those of mammals.
• To understand in general how each of the organ systems functions.
• To understand how avian organ systems condition avian performance.
• To be able to identify birds from any of the 230+ Families of birds and give summaries of their distribution, number of species, larger group membership, and life history of each.
• To be able to recognize 150 local common bird species, with common and Latin names, and Family membership.
• To learn the pros and cons of different theories for the timing and pattern of avian diversification relative to the K-T extinctions.
• To synthesize the biogeographic evidence for dispersal and endemism.
• To develop a mind's eye scenario for diversification and spread of birds across Earth that accounts for all current knowledge about distributions.
• To learn about research methods such as mist-netting, banding, censusing, molts, digital databases, etc.
• Research and write a life history account for a poorly known neotropical bird on the Neotropical Birds Online web-site.

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