COASTAL ORNITHOLOGY
(COA 411/511)
Course Information
May 2017
Instructor: Mark S. Woodrey
Mobile: 228-697-0460
E-mail: (work)
Course Description: COASTAL ORNITHOLOGY (COA 411/511)
This introductory, field-oriented ornithology course explores the highly diverse avian habitats found along the Mississippi Gulf Coast with a focus on the study of avian ecology in the field. It will consist of a series of lectures, laboratory exercises, and field trips to introduce students to the birdlife of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Class activities will include a significant emphasis on the use of both sight and sound as means of field identification. During this course students will explore barrier island nesting grounds, boat the pristine Pascagoula River area, and explore local marshes and other unique coastal habitats. Students will also be introduced to a variety of ornithology field techniques including bird-banding, call-broadcast surveys, and other monitoring methodologies.Students will develop an understanding of the basics of avian biology/ecology and field identification of birds. The focus of this course will be on the behavioral and ecological aspects of the avifauna found along the northern Gulf Coast.
Course Objectives: The most important objective for this class is that when you leave the Mississippi Gulf coast you will have a greater appreciation for birds than when you arrived here. In addition, you should understand the basic principles of ornithology and learned how to identify birds found along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, particularly along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Text:Field Guide: Sibley, David A. 2003. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, New York.
Field Notebooks: You are required to keep field notes for each class field trip. These do not need to strictly adhere to the Grinnelian journal style but should follow a consistent style (to be discussed in class). Extra credit points will be earned if you include observations made outside of scheduled class time. I will gladly review your field notebooks on Thursday evening, 25May to provide you with comments regarding content and style. I will grade your field notebook during the Final Written Exam scheduled for Friday, 2 June. FIELD NOTEBOOKS WILL BE PROVIDED AS PART OF YOUR COURSE MATERIALS.
Grading (Lecture exams, field identification quizzes, Field Notebook, Course Project): Your grade will be determined from your performanceon the following:
Undergraduate StudentGraduate Student
1. Twolecture material exams (100 pts. each)200 pts. 200 pts.
2. Two field identification tests (50 pts. each)100 pts. 100 pts.
3. Evaluation of field notebook 50 pts. 50 pts.
4. Graduate Student Class Presentation 100 pts.
TOTAL POINTS350 pts. 450 pts.
Grading Scale: 90% = A; 80% = B; 70% = C; 60% = D; 60% = F
COASTAL ORNITHOLOGY
(COA 411/511)
Class Schedule
May 2017
Week 1
DATE / TIME / LECTURE TOPIC/FIELD TRIP / CHAPTER READINGS22 May
(Monday) / 9:30-12:00 am / Lecture: Orientation; Review syllabus and class expectations; Diversity and Taxonomy of Birds
1:00-4:00 pm / Field Trip: GCRL Campus, East and West Beach Drive (GCRL VAN); Introduction to Use of Binoculars and Spotting Scopes; How to Use a Field Guide; Bird Identification / Sibley: pages 8-24
23 May
(Tuesday) / 7:30-12:00 noon) / Field Trip: Ward Bayou Wildlife Management Area (GCRL VAN)
1:00-3:00 pm / Lecture: What is a Bird?: Characteristics of Birds
24 May
(Wednesday) / 7:30 am -1:00 pm / Field Trip: Pascagoula River (GCRL VAN; McCoy River tours; Field Lunches)
1:30-4:00 pm / Lecture: What is a Bird?: Characteristics of Birds (cont); Origin of Flight
25 May
(Thursday) / 7:30-12:00 (noon) / Field Trip: Seaman Road Sewage Lagoon (GCRL VAN)
1:00-4:00 pm / Lecture: Bird Flight & Locomotion
26 May
(Friday) / 7:30-12:00 (noon) / Field Trip: Harrison County Beaches/Field Identification TEST (GCRL VAN)
1:00-3:00 pm / EXAM: 1st Week Lecture Material
Week 2
DATE / TIME / LECTURE TOPIC/FIELD TRIP / CHAPTER READINGS29 May
(Monday) / 7:30-12:00 (noon) / Field Trip: Cat Island, Mobile Bay, AL (DISL Boat) (GCRL VAN; Field Lunches)
1:00-4:00 pm / Field Trip: Cat Island, Mobile Bay, AL (DISL Boat) (GCRL VAN)
30 May
(Tuesday) / 7:30-12:00 (noon) / Field Trip: DeSoto National Forest (GCRL VAN)
1:00-4:00 pm / Lecture: Navigation and Migration / Gill: Chapters 9 & 10
31 May
(Wednesday) / 7:00 am - 4:00 pm / Field Trip: Horn Island, Sand Island (GCRL BOAT – R/V Hermes; Field Lunches)
7:00 am - 4:00 pm / Lecture: Bird Osmoregulation/Bird Behavior: Visual and Vocal Communication
7:30-9:30 pm / Field Trip: Owl Calling/Nocturnal Birds (GCRL VAN)
1June
(Thursday) / 7:30-12:00 (noon) / Field Trip: Deer Island/Mississippi Sound(GCRL BOAT - MEC Pontoon Boat; Joint Trip with Barrier Island Ecology Class)
1:00-4:00 pm / Lecture: Avian Conservation; Graduate Student Presentations; Review for Final Written Exam
2 June
(Friday) / 7:30-12:00 (noon) / Field Trip: Field Identification TEST(GCRL VAN)
1:00-4:00 pm / EXAM: Final Written Exam
Disability Accommodations
If a student has a disability that qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and requires accommodations, he/she should contact the Office for Disability Accommodations (ODA) for information on appropriate policies and procedures. Disabilities covered by ADA may include learning, psychiatric, physical disabilities, or chronic health disorders. Students can contact ODA if they are not certain whether a medical condition/disability qualifies.
Address:
The University of Southern Mississippi
Office for Disability Accommodations
118 College Drive # 8586
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
Voice Telephone:601.266.5024 or 228.214.3232
Fax:601.266.6035
Individuals with hearing impairments can contact ODA using theMississippi Relay Serviceat 1.800.582.2233 (TTY) or emailing ODA .
Academic Integrity
All students at the University of Southern Mississippi are expected to demonstrate the highest levels of academic integrity in all that they do. Forms of academic dishonesty include (but are not limited to):
- Cheating (including copying from others’ work)
- Plagiarism (representing another person’s words or ideas as your own; failure to properly cite the source of your information, argument, or concepts)
- Falsification of documents
- Disclosure of test or other assignment content to another student
- Submission of the same paper or other assignment to more than one class without the explicit approval of all faculty members’ involved
- Unauthorized academic collaboration with others
- Conspiracy to engage in academic misconduct
Engaging in any of these behaviors or supporting others who do so will result in academic penalties and/or other sanctions. If a faculty member determines that a student has violated our Academic Integrity Policy, sanctions ranging from resubmission of work to course failure may occur, including the possibility of receiving a grade of “XF” for the course, which will be on the student’s transcript with the notation “Failure due to academic misconduct.” For more details, please see the University’sAcademic Integrity Policy.Note that repeated acts of academic misconduct will lead to expulsion from the University.