Field Ornithology

The course is a field-based exploration of birds with a dual emphasis on developing and refining field identification and classification skills and gaining an understanding of the evolution and ecology of Aves. Topics include visual and auditory identification, a survey of the primary orders and families, evolutionary history, physiology of flight, migration ecology, nesting ecology, life cycles of North American birds, and an introduction to avian field research. Because the course is held after leaf-out, much of the bird identification skills will be auditory. The course will be divided into a distance-learning section and on campus section.