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This ornithology course originated from lecture notes that I developed over the years. I have retired from teaching and see little reason to have this resouce, such as it is, gather dust in some drawer. In this blog format, I offer it to you as a free, non-credit, self-study exercise.  As such, you many expect little or no interaction from me (although I will be glad to hear about possible editorial improvements). Introduction What is a Bird? Ornithology (Ornithology and birding) Flight (Advantanges and adaptations for flight) Origin and Evolution of Birds (The evolution of flight) Taxonomy and Systematics (Species and evolution) Ethology (Behavior, innate vs. learning, personal behaviors) Social Behavior (Communication, Territory, Flocking, Courtship and Breeding, Nesting, Incubating, and more) Migration (The whys and hows of migration, What about birds that don't migrate?) Feathers (Kinds, molt, color) Ecology (Extinction, Geographical Ecology, Population Ecology) History of Orn
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Introduction

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This ornithology course originated from lecture notes that I developed over the years. I have retired from teaching and see little reason to have this resouce, such as it is, gather dust in some drawer. In this blog format, I offer it to you as a free, non-credit, self-study exercise.  As such, you many expect little or no interaction from me (although I will be glad to hear about possible editorial improvements). This blog is not intended as an all-inclusive course. For example, I also taught courses in Ecology and Evolution, so many fundamental aspects of those courses are not found here. It would be wise, then, to have a General Biology textbook, in case something is not fully explained here. I expected students taking this course to purchase an ornithology textbook. Later, students bought Thayer's CD-ROM disk, Birds of North America, that has a brief textbook embedded within it. Either way, you can go into various subjects in more depth or check out areas that may be neglected
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Ornithology

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 Song Sparrow What can ornithology do for you? Why study it? In no other branch of science have amateurs played such an important role: Margaret Nice's Life History of the Song Sparrow is a classic example. My students have written papers in their state bird journal . But I don't mean to make you all into scientists. Bird watching (birding) is a hobby for many and a passion for some. Housewives (and even househusbands) trapped at home find an outlet by keeping track of the varieties of birds at outdoor feeders. You'll never get bored traveling between cities to--you may even enjoy the trip. Trips across the country become down-right exciting as you search for and find new and different species. You become more in tune with the world, our ecosystem.
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Goals and Supplies

Birding's beauty is that it only takes a field guide and a pair of binoculars--WHICH IS ALL YOU NEED, AT LEAST 7x35, (but 8x or 10x are better; the second number is your field of vision, so a big number there is a good thing), walking shoes and old clothes. More on these subjects are covered in the concluding remarks section of this course. If you are interested, two exellent ornithology texts are Gill's Ornithology , published by Freeman and Welty's The Life of Birds . Current students have a rudimentary textbook embedded in their CD-ROM. Thayer's Birds of North America . THE GOALS OF THIS COURSE ARE TWO FOLD: 1) to enhance your appreciation of birds. 2) to encourage you to make observations or investigations of your own. My name is Dan Tallman . I am an ornithologist by training. I will try to keep unnecessary technical terms out of this course, which is often hard for someone who is completely immersed in his or her scientific field. But, hopefully, as a birder by h
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Birding

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Bald Eagle During this course I expect you to keep a life list of the birds you see--either in the book or on a checklist. Of course, if you keep it up after the course is over is up to you. Many birders keep a life list of species seen throughout their whole lives. I keep track of the dates and places all around the world. (Some people are into cathedrals and Rembrandt's but I race out to the nearest swamp!) If you keep up birding seriously, you might want to start a Year List in addition to a life list, monthly lists state lists, big days, world lists, semesters, country lists, Christmas counts, spring counts are all examples of lists people keep. Birding can quickly become a sport that can involve any number of players. The South Dakota Ornithologists' Union saw 150 species in one weekend in Sisseton, South Dakota. The sport can be costly too--once friends saw a Bald Eagle and jumped out of their jeep. Unfortunately, nobody turned the jeep off, so it proceeded into a lake!
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What is a Bird?

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Write down an answer and see how it compares to my 6 attributes birds. Most birds fly, but flight is not exclusive. Can you list the 4 groups of animals that are capable of TRUE FLIGHT? (Hint: gliders don't count.)  See answer at the end of this post. Bats also fly but birds are far more modified for flight than bats. Indeed, because of flight and the modifications to it (the aerodynamic demands of flight), birds are remarkably similar. There is far less difference between an albatross and a hummingbird than an elephant and a shrew or monkey. TO RECAPITULATE: A bird is a flying vertebrate with feathers. (Cursorial birds (= ratites ) are believed to have evolved from flying ancestor.) Black-footed Albatross Black-chinned Hummingbird Answer to question above--This is kind of a trick question, since one group is extinct. 1. Birds 2. Bats 3. Insects 4. Pterosaurs
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What is a Bird? 2

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A bird is in the animal Kingdom. It is a in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata (fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals are other examples of vertebrates). As such, birds have a backbone, notochord, and pharyngeal clefts. (Be sure you can define these terms.) They lay eggs with shells (other egg-layers include reptiles and some mammals (which?)). They have a 4-chambered heart (as do some reptiles and all mammals). Birds are warm-blooded (as are mammals). And birds EXCLUSIVELY have feathers, outgrowths of skin that cover and streamline the body Great Blue Heron
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