1

NREM 4464 / ZOOL 4464

ORNITHOLOGY Spring 2015 Syllabus MWF 11:30–12:20, 320 AGH Lab Sec. 01: W 1:30–4:20 315 LSW Lab Sec. 02: Th 1:30–4:20 315 LSW Lab Sec. 03: W 6:30–9:20 315 LSW

Instructor: Dr. Tim O’Connell 018 Ag Hall, 744-7593 office hours: by appointment tim.oconnell@okstate.edu

Teaching Assistant: Ms. Emily Sinnott 305 Noble Res. Ctr. office hours: by appointment easinnott@gmail.com

Teaching Assistant: Mr. Eric Duell 467 Ag Hall office hours: by appointment eric.duell@okstate.edu

Course Objectives: My primary objective is for every student to emerge from the course with a lasting knowledge of and appreciation for birds. This can be the foundation for a lifetime of serious scholarly pursuit of all things avian or avocational contribution to the body of knowledge in ornithology derived from the participation of citizen scientists. Students who excel in the course should be prepared to train to conduct aural and visual surveys for birds anywhere in North America. What you will get out of this course: Through lecture, laboratory, and field experiences, students will develop understanding and appreciation for the systematics, phylogeny, distribution, abundance, field identification, field sampling, life histories, morphological traits, ecological relationships, behaviors, and conservation of birds. We will engage the primary literature, analyze original data, and together we will contribute hundreds of checklists to citizen science databases. Course Website: Lecture notes, exam keys, supplemental readings, and announcements will be available to you on the course website: http://okstateornithology.wordpress.com/. Required Text: Gill, F. B. 2007. Ornithology. (3rd ed.) W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, NY. 758 pp. Supplemental Readings: No specific field guide is required for the course, but it is essential that each student acquire one, and use it. The reliable identification of 150 species of Payne County birds is central to your success in this course, and the best way to learn them is to study plumages in a field guide and the real bird in the field. For beginners I recommend above all others James Coe’s “Eastern Birds” (either the 1994 or 2001 editions). This great little bird book can be had for less than $10 on Amazon.com. If you already have the basics of bird identification under your belt, then Coe’s guide might be limiting for you. You might do better with a guide that covers ALL species in North America, with better range maps, and one that illustrates multiple plumages that some species exhibit. At this level, “The Sibley Guide to Birds” by David Allen Sibley is head and shoulders above the rest. There are a number of other really good guides as well, all entitled “Field Guide to the Birds of North America.” I recommend the guides of that name produced by the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian, and the “Kaufman” guide. All would serve you well in the course, but Sibley’s is the best and Coe’s is the best introduction to birds. If you prefer, there are apps and e-book versions of these and similar guides that should serve your needs quite well. We will also engage in discussions of original literature that I will provide for you.

2

Field Work and Binoculars: Ornithology is an outdoor pursuit, and not one restricted to fair weather strolls. For our purposes this semester, there is no such thing as too cold, too rainy, too windy, etc. With the exception of icy roads or electrical storms, we will be out on scheduled field trips no matter what the weather. It is your responsibility to be prepared - overprepared is a safer bet – for whatever conditions we encounter. We will have spotting scopes on hand for field trips but students should not rely solely on these because much of the field work you will undertake in this course will be on your own time. Binoculars are not essential for bird study but neither are shoes. Both, however, add significantly to the experience. Every field biologist, whether a specialist on birds or bumblebees, needs a personal pair of binoculars. They are essential field equipment, like a compass, hand lens, pencil, and a field notebook. If you are in the market for a pair of binoculars, the prices can be intimidating. The best quality are almost exclusively more than $2000 – well out of my price range – which is why I’ve always used more modest optics. I collected the data for my master’s thesis with a $35 pair of Sears’ specials. I saw some pretty amazing things through those cheapo binocs, so don’t assume you need to break the bank to be a birder. There are excellent resources available to learn more about choosing the right binoculars for you. We will devote a portion of lab time during the first week of class to providing you with some of the basics. Course Requirements and Grades: Like many courses, you will be responsible for lecture exams, laboratory practicals, and quizzes of all assigned lecture and reading material. In addition, you will also need to invest a considerable amount of your own time in the pursuit of birds and participation in “citizen science” projects. Here is a description of some of the non-traditional endeavors in which you will engage for Ornithology: eBird – In lieu of a formal field notebook, you will sign in to the free, web-based data storage program known as eBird. You will create your own user ID and password in eBird, and regularly update checklists of birds you have identified in your personal birding. A checklist is simply a list of bird species and numbers encountered in a single bout of birding, e.g., a quick walk through a city park or a half hour of counting birds at your feeder seen from the comfort of your kitchen window. When you enter your checklists in eBird, you will have the option of emailing a copy of the checklist to yourself. You will save a minimum of 10 such checklists throughout the course of the semester and submit them to your TA. In addition to those 10, you will submit 4 checklists during the weekend of 13–16 February as you and about 100,000 other people participate in the 18th annual Great Backyard Bird Count. Field Trips – Your TAs and I will be available most weekends at times TBA to provide guidance to your “personal” birding. In addition we will have EIGHT weekend field trips scheduled for which your attendance is mandatory at two. BIRDATHON – As one of your optional field trips on Saturday, April 25th, you will participate in a “big day” of birding as part of a team of 2–4 students. This involves competing against other teams to find the maximum number of species in a 24-hour period. Big day competitions are usually held as fundraisers – teams submit entry fees or, more often, solicit sponsors who pledge to contribute a certain amount of money (e.g. 50 cents, $1) for every species encountered. The Payne County Audubon Society relies on BIRDATHON as the primary source of revenue to support programming throughout the year. If you choose this option as one of your field trips, your assignment will be to participate in BIRDATHON both to earn points in class and raise money for the Payne County Audubon Society. (Note: You won’t be graded on how much money you raise! All participants earn full credit just for taking part.) Data Compilations – Traditionally, students in Ornithology have prepared some kind of a written term paper. This year, your assignment will be to compile specific life history information for 10 species of North American birds. This information will be assimilated into three new indices of biotic integrity that I will be preparing over the summer. Thus, you will be making a direct contribution to my research program I will coordinate the species assigned to you and provide full details of this assignment in lecture.

3

Grading: Grades will be determined as a percentage of 1000 total points available: Activity/Assignment Points Percent of grade Lecture exams (3 @ 100 pts each) 300 30 Lab practicals (3 @ 100 pts each) 300 30 Lab quizzes (10 @ 10 pts each) 100 10 eBird portfolio (10 checklists @ 10 pts each) 100 10 Great Backyard Bird Count 40 4 Field Trips (any 2 of 8; 30 pts each) 60 6 Term Project Data Compilation 100 10 TOTAL COURSE POINTS 1000 100% Here is how your grade will be determined:

Letter Grade

Points earned (percentage)

A 905–1000 (91–100%) B 805–904 (81–90%) C 705–804 (71–80%) D 605–704 (61–70%) F < 605 (< 61%) F! 0 (0%) for academic

dishonesty In addition to these items that will determine your grade, you will be quizzed during the first week of class on the material contained within the “NREM Safety” presentation that has been posted to the course website’s home page. No OSU student is allowed to participate in a field trip or other outdoor exercise without first completing safety training. Special needs: If you have a disability and need special accommodations of any nature, I will work with you and the Office of Disabled Student Services (326 Student Union) to provide reasonable accommodations in this class. Please let me know about your disability and the accommodations you desire by the end of the second week of class. Unforeseen problems: While I expect you to attend every class meeting (otherwise why are you here?), I will not take attendance. If you are sick and need to miss a class, you do not need to contact me in advance. (In fact, it is very likely that I do not want to hear a litany of your most disgusting symptoms.) All notes and readings will be posted to the course’s webpage, so you will have access to everything we cover. Please do keep yourself and your germs at home when you are sick, and don’t worry about what you will have missed. If you need to miss . . .

a quiz: Do not worry about it because each one is worth a tiny fraction of your grade in the course. Quizzes will be organized as mini-practicals; it will not be possible to offer make-ups.

a lecture exam or lab practical: If you need to miss an exam or practical for any reason, you are automatically covered by “disaster insurance.” I will substitute the grade you earn on the Final Exam or Final Practical for the grade of the exam you have missed. For example, let’s say you missed the first lab practical, got an 87 on the second one, and a 92 on the third. In this case, I would record a 92 for you on the first practical. This applies, no questions asked.

the final exam: This is a bit trickier. If you need to miss the Final Exam, then the default solution is that I assign you a grade of “Incomplete” for the course in that semester. We then work out between ourselves how best to have you fulfill your remaining obligation to the course, which will most likely take the form of a make-up exam administered at some point in the subsequent year.

a field trip: Your field trip requirement is to participate in two of eight opportunities, so you have some choice in how you fulfill that obligation. If you need to miss a trip that is mandatory for you, we will work together to develop a suitable substitute opportunity on a case by case basis.

4

Academic Dishonesty: Any student engaged in plagiarism or other types of cheating will receive (at a minimum) an F for the particular assignment. Students who fail a course due to academic dishonesty will receive the dreaded “eff-shriek”, and the literal symbol “F!” will appear on the transcript. You should read and understand the OSU policies on academic dishonesty. I am actually in violation if I do not “prosecute” cases of academic dishonesty. I’m a busy man; please give me no reason to do this. General Laboratory Schedule My goal for the laboratory is to accomplish four basic things: • Introduce you to the 150 local bird species you are required to know • Provide hands-on instruction in avian structure and anatomy • Introduce to the diversity of orders and families of birds worldwide • Provide training in avian field sampling techniques

week Ornithology Lab Topics Readings 14/15-Jan Lab Orientation, birds of Payne County 1 your field guide 21/22-Jan Birds of Payne County 2 your field guide 28/29-Jan Birds of Payne County 3 your field guide

4/5-Feb Birds of Payne County 4 your field guide 11/12-Feb PRACTICAL 1 (100 pts) 18/19-Feb Anatomy – integument and skeleton TBA 25/26-Feb Anatomy – musculature and organ systems TBA

4/5-Mar Birds of the World 1 TBA 11/12-Mar Birds of the World 2 TBA 18/19-Mar NO LAB: SPRING BREAK!! 25/26-Mar Birds of the World 3 TBA

1/2-Apr PRACTICAL 2 (100 pts) 8/9-Apr Avian field sampling

15/16-Apr Bird banding 1 22/23-Apr Bird banding 2 29/30-Apr PRACTICAL 3 – Field Sampling Trials (100 pts)

Formal Field Trips (choose two of eight to attend):

Sun., 18 Jan., 2:00 pm: Boomer Lake, Stillwater, OK Sat., 24 Jan., 8:00 am: OSU Arboretum, Stillwater, OK Sat., 14 Feb., 8:00 am: Sanborn Lake, Stillwater, OK Sun., 22 Feb., 8:00 am: Lake Carl Blackwell, Payne County, OK Sat., 7 Mar., 8:00 am: Couch Park, Stillwater, OK Sat., 28 Mar., 7:00 am–4:00 pm: Drummond Flats WMA, Garfield County, OK Sat., 18 Apr., 8:00 am: Babcock Park, Stillwater, OK Sat., 25 Apr.: BIRDATHON, Payne County, OK

General Lecture Schedule

date day Ornithology Lecture Topics Readings 12-Jan M Course Orientation xxi–xxvi 14-Jan W Resources for bird study; diversity of birds ch 1 16-Jan F Citizen Science ch 18: 558–569 19-Jan M NO CLASS – MLK University Holiday! 21-Jan W Conservation 1 ch 21 23-Jan F Conservation 2

5

General Lecture Schedule, continued: date day Ornithology Lecture Topics Readings 26-Jan M Term Project Instructions 28-Jan W Avian systematics 1 ch 3 30-Jan F Avian systematics 2; species concepts ch 3 2-Feb M Speciation ch 19 4-Feb W Origins of birds ch 2 6-Feb F Ancient birds 9-Feb M Literature discussion 1 - Wilson Journal of Ornithology TBA

11-Feb W Feathers 1 ch 4 13-Feb F Feathers 2; flight 16-Feb M Flight ch 5 18-Feb W Physiology 1 ch 6

20-Feb F Exam 1, 100 pts. Material 1/12 – 2/13 23-Feb M Physiology 2 25-Feb W Guest Lecture: Dr. Craig Davis: Whooping Cranes! 27-Feb F Sensory systems ch 7 2-Mar M Literature discussion 2 - The Auk TBA 4-Mar W Songs and calls 1 ch 8 6-Mar F Songs and calls 2; non-vocal sounds 9-Mar M Guest Lecture: Fidel Atuo: Avifauna of Equatorial Africa

11-Mar W Photoperiod and annual cycles ch 9 13-Mar F Migration and navigation 1 ch 10

3/16–20 M NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK!! NOTHING! 23-Mar M Migration and navigation 2 25-Mar W Social behavior ch 11

27-Mar F Mate choice ch 12 30-Mar M Breeding systems 1 ch 13

1-Apr W Breeding systems 2 - cooperative breeding 3-Apr F Avian sex ch 14 6-Apr M Guest Lecture: Dr. Scott Loss: What kills birds? 8-Apr W Clutch size and incubation ch 15

10-Apr F Exam 2, 100 pts. Material 2/16–4/3 13-Apr M Parental care 1 ch 16 15-Apr W Parental care 2 17-Apr F Literature discussion 3 -The Ibis TBA

20-Apr M TBA; Term Project Data Compilation Due TBA 22-Apr W Lifetime reproductive success ch 17 24-Apr F Populations ch 18: 533–558 27-Apr M Communities ch 20 29-Apr W Birds as ecological indicators 1-May F Ornithology in the 21st Century 4-May M FINAL EXAM (cumulative but stress Apr. 6–May 1)

Final Exam: 10:00–11:50 Room 320 AGH, Monday, May 4, 2015

6

Important Dates For You in the Course:

Sun., 18 Jan., 2:00 pm: Boomer Lake, Stillwater, OK Sat., 24 Jan., 8:00 am: OSU Arboretum, Stillwater, OK 11–12 Feb.: Lab Practical 1 Sat., 14 Feb., 8:00 am: Sanborn Lake, Stillwater, OK 20 Feb.: Lecture Exam 1 Sun., 22 Feb., 8:00 am: Lake Carl Blackwell, Payne County, OK Sat., 7 Mar., 8:00 am: Couch Park, Stillwater, OK Sat., 28 Mar., 7:00 am–4:00 pm: Drummond Flats WMA, Garfield County, OK 1–2 Apr.: Lab Practical 2 10 Apr.: Lecture Exam 2 Sat., 18 Apr., 8:00 am: Babcock Park, Stillwater, OK 20 Apr.: Term Project Data Compilation Sat., 25 Apr.: BIRDATHON, Payne County, OK 29–30 Apr.: Lab Practical 3 4 May: Lecture Final Exam

“What is the extinction of the condor to a child who has never known a wren?” Robert Michael Pyle OSU Syllabus Attachment – Check here for all Spring 2015 deadlines and guidelines: http://academicaffairs.okstate.edu/faculty-a-staff