BIOLOGY 101LBiology & Society

LaboratoryLab 03

Common Campus Birds

Common Campus Birds

AGENDA

Names & appearance of common campus birds

Bird ID quiz

Campus bird hunt

Field notesMake 15 minute species counts at 2 sitesDraw 5 birds

SPECIES CHECKLIST

Japanese white-eyered-crested cardinalcommon mynaspotted dovezebra dovewhite ternrock dovenorthern cardinal

house sparrowhouse finchJava sparrowcommon waxbillred-vented bulbulred-whiskered bulbulPacific golden-ploverwhite-rumped shama

NAMEScommon name scientific name

common myna Acridotheres tristis

“a hill-top, peak”

“sad, melancholy, dullness of color”

“to hunt after, chase”

common mynacommon myna

Japanese white-eyeJapanese white-eye

zebra dovezebra dove

rock doverock dove

spotted dovespotted dove

house sparrowhouse sparrow

Java sparrowJava sparrow

red-vented bulbulred-vented bulbul

red-whiskered bulbulred-whiskered bulbul

Pacificgolden-ploverPacificgolden-plover

northerncardinalnortherncardinal

red-crested cardinalred-crested cardinal

white ternwhite tern

house finchhouse finch

common waxbillcommon waxbill

white-rumped shamawhite-rumped shama

TASKS

Review bird pictures

Look over information about birds

Website:

Identification Quiz

answer with full common name

NEXT: observe & ID birds

FIELD NOTES

Location, Date, Time, Observer,Duration, Weather Conditions

Descriptions Varney Circle, UHMJan 17, 2003, 2:15 PMJanice Tanaka15 min observation

Weather:Generally clear sky.Light breeze.

Habitat:Lawn with fountain(no water in pond)

small unknown bird

whitecheekpatch

red bill

gray body

black crown

Sketches with Annotations

PURPOSE OF SKETCHES

Document unfamiliar birds

Describe habitats

Cultivate attention to detail

Bird SketchesBird Sketches

Geometric ShapesGeometric Shapes

red eye ring

white cheek patch

redbill

gray-pink belly

gray back, side& breast

black uppertail

black crown

white undertail

red tarsus

KEY SKETCH FEATURES

Correct proportions

Prominent field marks

Bill shape

Field marks are prominent features used to separate similar birds

Field marks are prominent features used to separate similar birds

IMPORTANT NOTES

Sketch & field notes mustbe made from field info

Do NOT annotate with infofrom field guide or remove anynotes

NEXT STEPS

Note important characteristics about habitat

Clarify drawing with notes while bird is still visible

Add notes on behavior

BIRD APPEARANCE

General size of the bird-compare to something familiar

Colors

Prominent marks

Unusual features (long legs)

Male/Female/Immature differences

BIRD BEHAVIOR

Walk, hop, fly

Alone, pair, group

(single species or species mixed)

Food & eating behavior

Preening, sunning, sleeping

Vocalizations (type, what prompted)

Flight pattern

Retreat habitat when frightened

Shyness (approach distance)

Habitat Characteristics

Birds on what type of vegetation orartifact

General types of vegetation in area -tree # & size, lawn area, shrub # & size

Bird attractors -feeding area, water, perches

Food type and abundance -fruit, flowers, seeds

Hale Imiloa, WCCJan 17, 2003, 2:15 PMJanice Tanaka15 min observation

Weather:Generally clear sky.Light breeze.

Habitat:Lawn with fountain(no water in pond)Grass long in places with seeds

Some minor construction onSite that has bare dirt and someStanding water in open trench.

No trees or shrubs.

small unknown bird

whitecheekpatch

red bill

gray body

black crown

Location, Date, Time, Observer, Duration

Weather

FIELD NOTES GENERAL GUIDELINES

Leave out species name

Location info

2 pages (front + back)

WCC Campus Field Assignment

5 sketches of 5 different birds at separate locations on campus

Include proper anatomical descriptions

Review Homework Assignment

2 sketches of 2 different birds at home/park.

Include proper anatomical descriptions

ETHICAL DISCUSSIONS

I’m really bad at drawing. I find it easier to make the field notes

drawings by copying pictures. I’ll do that instead; it’s a lot faster.

It’s really hard for me to get to campus. I’m sure that it’ll be fine

to make up some data.

A couple of days ago I wrote down what I thought was the right name

of a bird that I saw. Now that I have more experience, I’m not

sure that I was correct. What am I supposed to do?

I found that having an idea of what I was looking for was very helpful as I did my data interpretation.

I was making my half-hour observation and before the time was up some of my friends came over and were very disruptive. I’m pretty sure that it scared some of the birds away.

I was observing and drawing a birds and everything was going fine until some idiot started feeding birds a little way down the mall. Needless to say, all the birds left my area and went to get the food.

I sat on a bench in an area where I thought that there would be some interesting birds. I waited a full 15 minutes and no birds showed up. I don’t think that this counts as an observation period since I didn’t see anything.