Lab Syllabus, etc.
Dr. Nancy McIntyre's Ornithology Website -Spring 2015 Instructor
(lab and lecture syllabus, and other course-related info)
American Birding Association's Code of Birding Ethics -- read this!
Office Hours: Wed 1-2pm, Biol 407/406
EBird -- Citizen science project (now going global). Report your bird sightings & explore the data. Not sure where to start? Try the new "Explore a Location" feature! It's great if you want to know where to find birds locally & what species have been reported (includes dates & observers). Try exploring the data in other ways & enter your own observations (just read their rules first).
Dr. Nancy McIntyre's Ornithology Website -Spring 2015 Instructor
(lab and lecture syllabus, and other course-related info)
American Birding Association's Code of Birding Ethics -- read this!
Office Hours: Wed 1-2pm, Biol 407/406
EBird -- Citizen science project (now going global). Report your bird sightings & explore the data. Not sure where to start? Try the new "Explore a Location" feature! It's great if you want to know where to find birds locally & what species have been reported (includes dates & observers). Try exploring the data in other ways & enter your own observations (just read their rules first).
Vocalizations to Know
These are birds commonly found the urban areas of Lubbock and surrounding areas (though not necessarily all year), so students are responsible for knowing these species by ear.
(Click on the names to take you to subpages with more info. Note that these are in approximate taxonomic order.)
These are birds commonly found the urban areas of Lubbock and surrounding areas (though not necessarily all year), so students are responsible for knowing these species by ear.
(Click on the names to take you to subpages with more info. Note that these are in approximate taxonomic order.)
Funny (Yet Educational) Diversions
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Cool Stuff (we mention some of these in lab)
Darwin's Pigeons website with photos of fancy breeds and lots & lots of other info
MacArthur's original paper (Ecology, 1958)
- All About Birds ID Quiz! You can choose the species you want to include. (Note: not all the species TTU students are required to know are on here)
- Raptor ID Quiz (Crossley Bird Guides). Answers on this page here. Most of these can be found in Lubbock.
- Citizen Science Reveals Annual Bird Migrations Across Continents Article about how eBird reports show migration. Animated Map.
- Project SNOWstorm
- Baby Bird (Cinereous Mourner, Laniocera hypopyrra, Tityridae) Mimics Toxic Caterpillar
- "Moonwalking" Manakin video (feather sonations + special bonus: dancing scientist!)
- Clever Corvids: New Caledonian Crow & more
New Caledonian Crow uses 3 tools
- Darwin's Pigeons: Artificial selection of the domestic Rock Pigeon was key in developing the idea of evolution by natural selection
Darwin's Pigeons website with photos of fancy breeds and lots & lots of other info
- Robert MacArthur's seminal niche partitioning study on North American wood-warblers
MacArthur's original paper (Ecology, 1958)
Other Cool Stuff to Explore (Unrelated to lab material)
- Birding (& Other Wildlife) in Texas (Or: What I Love About Texas)
Did you know Texas has some of the best birding & most diverse wildlife in the country?- The World Birding Center - A cooperative ecotourism initiative between USFWS, TXPWD, cities, NGOs, and private lands and parks in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Lots of interpretive centers (most are bilingual), workshops, festivals, etc. In short: It's awesome!
- Great Texas Wildlife Trails (Texas Parks & Wildlife) -- Every ecoregion in TX has a trail map that shows you great places for seeing wildlife. Each site has information like directions, habitat, best time of year to visit, and common wildlife species. I keep mine in my car glovebox--you never know when you'll have a bit of spare time!
- Houston Audubon Society -- this non-profit owns several parcels of land on the upper Texas coast (Houston-Galveston-Beaumont), including prime pieces on High Island, where some of the best spring migration birding is the country is found.
- Big Bend National Park -- Awesome landscapes & unique wildlife. One of Texas' greatest, but least-known, treasures! I love this place! (And < 6 hours from Lubbock, an easy drive by TX standards).
- Radar Ornithology -- Track bird migrations and large-scale movements with weather radar (also bats & insects)
- BirdCast -- Real-time forecasts of bird movements by US region. Integrates radar, weather forecasts, & biological information (like typical timing of migration for a species). Pretty cool, huh?
Useful Websites
Links to citizen science initiatives like eBird, FeederWatch, Christmas Bird Count, and mobile app Merlin
- Dr. Ken Schmidt's Texas Tech Website (Spring 2014 Ornithology Instructor)
- Schmidt Lab Website (my advisor and my labmates)
Links to citizen science initiatives like eBird, FeederWatch, Christmas Bird Count, and mobile app Merlin
- All About Bird Biology (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) -- Want to review what you learned in class? Or know more about bird biology? Here's a good place to start. Looks pretty slick so far, and CLO promises more to come.
- Neotropical Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) (notice a trend, here?) - species accounts for Neotropical bird species. Similar to Birds of North America species accounts, but free. A new site that is a work in progress.
- EBird -- see description at top of page.
- Xeno-Canto - Bird sounds from around the world. A collaborative project between a wide variety of people.
- OneZoom Tree of Life Explorer: Birds -- Stumbled across this & thought it was just mind-blowing to explore (Fractals!). Zoom in on a branch, and zoom in, and zoom in to species leaf! When you zoom in far enough, there's info about when the group diverged, conservation status, and more. You can also search by species or group by typing in a search box so you don't have to hunt for it.
Good Field Guides & Reference Media
Note: the 2nd ed. (1st printing) has updated taxonomy (ok, well, it was current, until things all changed again in the last year) and maps, and more species, but the colors are off on some plates, and many (including myself) think the font is too thin and hard to read. Hopefully these issues will be fixed in the 2nd printing.
For everyday use, which you can easily put in a backpack, I recommend one of these:
The Sibley Field Guide to Eastern Birds by David Sibley -- covers most of Texas, and is good for Lubbock. Is missing several Far West TX species that have limited ranges
The Sibley Field Guide to Western Birds by David Sibley -- better for Texas to the W & SW of Lubbock.
Has most birds found in Lubbock, but is missing several TX-only species (notably Golden-fronted Woodpecker)
I think these are the best because they have songs & call examples from multiple individuals and show regional variation. The booklets tell you how many individuals were recorded, and the location of recording.
- The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Sibley (the big book!)
Note: the 2nd ed. (1st printing) has updated taxonomy (ok, well, it was current, until things all changed again in the last year) and maps, and more species, but the colors are off on some plates, and many (including myself) think the font is too thin and hard to read. Hopefully these issues will be fixed in the 2nd printing.
For everyday use, which you can easily put in a backpack, I recommend one of these:
The Sibley Field Guide to Eastern Birds by David Sibley -- covers most of Texas, and is good for Lubbock. Is missing several Far West TX species that have limited ranges
The Sibley Field Guide to Western Birds by David Sibley -- better for Texas to the W & SW of Lubbock.
Has most birds found in Lubbock, but is missing several TX-only species (notably Golden-fronted Woodpecker)
- Manual of Ornithology: Avian Structure and Function by Noble S. Proctor and Patrick J. Lynch
- The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds by Paul Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, Darryl Wheye
- Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Eastern Region (CDs) by Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes, and Lang Elliot
- Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Western Region (CDs) by Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes, and Kevin Colver
I think these are the best because they have songs & call examples from multiple individuals and show regional variation. The booklets tell you how many individuals were recorded, and the location of recording.
- Taxon-specific Field Guides:
- Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors In Flight by Jerry Liguori
- Sparrows of the United States and Canada: The Photographic Guide by David Beadle
- The Shorebird Guide by Michael O'Brien, Richard Crossley, & Kevin Karlson
- Stokes Field Guide to Warblers by Donald and Lillian Stokes