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NREM/ZOOL 4464 – Ornithology Dr. Tim O’Connell Lecture 1–3 12–16 January, 2015 Readings this week: Gill: xxi–xxvi, Ch. 1, Ch. 18 (pgs. 558–569), Gill: Ch. 21. Objectives for Ornithology: •EVERY student completes the course with a new and deeper appreciation of birds and birding •The foundation in bird study you receive in this course prepares you for a lifetime of scholarly work in ornithology, or participation as a “citizen scientist” •Students who excel in the course will be “field ready” for jobs in ornithology by April. •We will examine the systematics, phylogenies, distribution, identification, field sampling, life histories, morphological traits, ecological relationships, behaviors, and conservation of birds. Some  Course  Particulars  •Grading  –  1000  points  total  in  the  course  (lecture  +  lab).    

   

       

     

Important  Dates:  •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  •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  

•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  •20  Apr.:  Term  Project  Data  Compilation  •Sat.,  25  Apr.:  BIRDATHON,  Payne  County,  OK  •29–30  Apr.:    Lab  Practical  3  4  May:  Lecture  Final  Exam    

 Diversity  of  Birds  •Domain  Eukarya,  Kingdom  Animalia  •Phylum  Chordata,  *subphylum*  Vertebrata  •Class  Aves  •Orders:  34  •Families:  223  •Genera:  ~  2000  •Species:  9000–10000    Example  classification  of  a  bird  you  should  know:  Tyrannus  forficatus     scientific  name  Scissor-­‐tailed  Flycatcher     English  common  name  (standardized)  Tyrannidae       family  (note  “dae”  suffix)  Passeriformes       order  (note  “formes”  suffix)    

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Comparison  of  diversity  of  species  among  the  different  classes  of  vertebrates:  •Birds  –  9,000–10,000  •Fish    -­‐  33,000  •Amphibians  -­‐  6,800  •Reptiles    -­‐  8,800  •Mammals    -­‐  4,300    So  birds  are  pretty  diverse,  but  not  nearly  so  as  fish,  and  nowhere  near  so  as  insects.    One  of  reasons  we  perceive  birds  as  especially  diverse,  however,  is  that  we  encounter  them  everywhere.    Because  birds  are  generally  diurnal  and  can  make  use  of  just  about  any  habitat  we  humans  do  (e.g.,  cities,  forests,  farmland),  we  encounter  birds  all  day  wherever  we  go.    Here  in  Stillwater,  in  the  dead  of  winter  on  a  college  campus,  here  are  species  you’re  likely  to  see  on  any  given  day  just  while  walking  between  classes:  House  Sparrow  House  Finch  European  Starling  Mourning  Dove  Rock  Pigeon  Canada  Goose    If  you  start  paying  a  little  attention  you  might  also  notice:  Northern  Mockingbird  Northern  Cardinal  American  Robin  Cedar  Waxwing  American  Crow  Ring-­‐billed  Gull    In  contrast,  how  many  mammals  are  you  likely  to  encounter  on  campus  in  January?  Fox  Squirrel  Amphibians?    Reptiles?  Fish?    Beetles?    Not  so  much.    Where  the  birds  are.    The  distribution  of  birds  is  not  at  all  uniform  across  the  globe:  Darker  areas  indicate  greater  species  richness.   Check out this list of bird species richness by country: Colombia 1,821 Peru 1,781 Brazil 1,712 Indonesia 1,604 Ecuador 1,515 Bolivia 1,414 Venezuela 1,392 China 1,221 India 1,180 Congo, DR 1,148 Kenya 1,103 Tanzania 1,056

Myanmar 1,047 Argentina 1,038 Mexico 1,026 Uganda 1,015 Thailand 971 Sudan 952 Cameroon 936 Angola 930 Panama 904 Nigeria 899 United States 888

•Perspective – 252 species on our list for Payne County; ~ 200 spp breed in Oklahoma; 101 spp on the Stillwater Christmas Bird Count a few weeks ago.

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That 888 for the U.S. is awfully generous – it includes all sorts of vagrant species identified at some point anywhere in U.S. territories. It’s actually quite difficult to find any more than about 500 of those species. In contrast, tropical countries can be much more diverse, even though their land mass is a lot smaller. Check out Panama’s marginally higher diversity than the U.S. Now consider that Panama is slightly smaller than South Carolina. That’s a lot of different species crammed into a small geographic area. Two things characterize the most diverse countries: tropical climate is the biggie, but next comes the presence of mountain ranges. Mountains in the tropics create a tremendous variety of habitat conditions to which different species can adapt. For example, there are hundreds of species worldwide with tiny distributions on mountain slopes like that that of Pink-headed Warbler:

How do we know about these distributions of birds? Although  birds  never  cease  to  surprise  in  distribution  and  abundance,  we  know  an  awful  lot  about  them  relative  to  other  vertebrate  groups.    People  have  always  studied  birds.  

 Birds  in  art  People  have  studied  birds  for  as  long  as  there  have  been  people.    Birds  announce  the  change  of  seasons,  point  the  direction  to  predator  kills  or  fruiting  trees  or  water  sources  or  islands  over  the  horizon  –  even  honey!    Birds  are  a  resource  themselves  –  for  food,  insulating  feathers,  ceremonial  garb,  tools  (e.g.,  hooks).    Finally,  birds  are  a  source  of  human  inspiration.    Examples  of  use  of  birds  in  art  (ancient  and  modern)  Rock  painting  of  Genyornis  from  Australia  –  could  be  40,000  years  old.  Apache  Indian  rock  painting  from  Arizona  –  prob,  Golden  Eagle  in  flight.  Hieronymus  Bosch’s  “Garden  of  Earthly  Delights.”  (ca.  1500)  Birds  in  music,  e.g.,  Charlie  Parker’s  “Ornithology.”  Birds  in  movies,  e.g.,  Alfred  Hitchcock’s  “The  Birds”  (1963)    But  what  about  birds  in  science?  (U.S.  examples)  •Mark  Catesby  (1682–1749)  •Published  Natural  History  of  Carolina,  Florida  and  the  Bahama  Islands  between  1731  and  1743.  •First  published  work  on  the  flora  and  fauna  of  North  America.  •Englishman  who  lived  in  Williamsburg,  VA  for  many  years.   Alexander Wilson, The Father of American Ornithology Born the son of a rebellious Scottish smuggler in 1766, Alexander Wilson left school when only 10 years old to train as a weaver and write poetry. At the age of 28, he set sail for America. After almost a decade of teaching school in Pennsylvania, this self-taught ornithologist dedicated himself to the seemingly unattainable goal of drawing “all the finest birds of America.” For the next ten years, Alexander Wilson traveled widely observing and painting birds. The result of these labors is the monumental nine-volume American Ornithology (1808-1814) in which 264 species (49 more than were previously known) are described and figured in considerable detail. John James Audubon •1785–1851 •Birds of America (1827) included 435 life-sized prints •On 7 December 2010, one of the original books was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London for $11.5 million – the most expensive book ever. Right: Audubon’s mind-blowing portrait of the extinct Carolina Parakeet.

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Charles Darwin •1859: The Origin of Species •The Theory of Evolution By Natural Selection was formulated primarily through Darwin’s meticulous records of morphological characteristics of finches on Galapagos islands. By the dawn of the 20th Century, a sea change was ripe for Ornithology. Rather than simple observations of species’ distributions (Catesby–Audubon) or meticulous record keeping of seemingly arcane morphological characters (Darwin), the stage was set for a new way to study birds – meticulous record-keeping on what birds did. Margaret Morse Nice •Given a bird book at age 12, and started taking notes. •Born in Amherst, MA and earned degrees from Mount Holyoke (BA) and Clark (MA). •Married Blaine Nice in 1908, and moved to Norman, OK where Blaine was on the OU faculty and Margaret raised 5 kids. •Published The Birds of Oklahoma in 1931; also published 18 articles on child development, based on observations of her own children. •Moved to Columbus, OH in 1927 and began a definitive study of Song Sparrows. •First female president of the Wilson Ornithological Society and elected fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union. •Published more than 250 papers, 3000 book reviews, and several books. Nice’s work on the life history of Song Sparrow ushered in a new era of studying the lives of birds, contributed greatly to the fledgling field of animal behavior, and laid the groundwork for the rise of citizen science in ornithology. To this day, the “lifetime achievement” award for consistent excellence given annually by the Wilson Ornithological Society is called the “Margaret Morse Nice Medal.” Professional scientific societies developed in the 19th Century: •American Ornithologists’ Union – 1883: publishes Auk •Wilson Ornithological Society – 1888: publishes Wilson Journal of Ornithology •Cooper Ornithological Society – 1893: publishes Condor •Association of Field Ornithologists – 1922: publishes Journal of Field Ornithology •Raptor Research Foundation – 1966: publishes Journal of Raptor Research •The Waterbird Society – 1976: publishes Waterbirds •Today, all publish international, peer-reviewed journals, sponsor research and awards, hold annual meetings, provide multiple avenues to support students in ornithology Other societies publish journals that include articles on ornithological topics. There include: •Science •Nature •Ecology – and its derivatives such as Ecological Applications •Conservation Biology •Journal of Wildlife Management •Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) •Evolution •Oecologia •Animal Behaviour •International journals comparable to The Auk: Ibis, Emu, Ornis Fennica, Die Vogelvelt, Ostrich, Ornitologica Neotropical, Journal of Avian Biology, etc. All of these are high-level, peer-reviewed journals of science (some much higher than others) in which the material published usually can be demonstrated to have international significance and represent state-of-the-art in the discipline. This is a tremendous output of scientific research related to birds.

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Articles of regional significance or those that focus on descriptive aspects of life history, distribution, etc., may be published by regional scientific societies. These are not solely ornithological journals, but they publish plenty of bird papers. •Southeastern Naturalist, Southwestern Association of Naturalists, Prairie Naturalist, etc. •These are regional societies with peer-reviewed journals of a lower tier. Mostly these publications deal with interests relevant to a particular region, rather than issues of international scope. There are also state level societies of ornithological research, obviously focusing on state-level questions and issues. •Oklahoma Ornithological Society •“The OOS is an independent, non-profit educational organization founded in 1951 and dedicated to the observation, study, and conservation of birds.” •Publishes (peer-reviewed!) the Bulletin of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society •Today, notes on distributions and basic natural history are usually published in journals like BOOS. The OOS owes a debt of great gratitude to George M. “Doc” Sutton who was instrumental in establishing BOOS as a peer-reviewed journal of science, even though it’s got such a narrow scope. Check this place out: http://www.suttoncenter.org/