BIOEE 2640 - Tropical Field Ornithology

(CU-ITL)

Mutli-semester course fall, (weeks 8-14). 3 credits (awarded on completion of all classes in multi-semester course). R grades only (in progress).

Prerequisite: enrollment primarily for students with limited or no bird knowledge. Course fee: see BIOEE 2641 (spring 2018). Permission of instructor required. Enrollment primarily for students with limited or no bird knowledge. Offered in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. There will be a trip to the Dominican Republic during the winter break. Students must enroll in both BIOEE 2640 and BIOEE 2641 to receive a final grade. R is recorded for satisfactory progress at the end of the first semester (BIOEE 2640) of a two-semester course.

A. Dhondt.

Provides students with the opportunity to study birds intensively in a neotropical environment. Students learn observational and field techniques, formulate and participate in group research projects.

Outcome 1: Students will learn to find literature, read and interpret literature relevant for the course.

Outcome 2: Students will be able to understand and explain what observed bird behavior means (foraging, aggressive, territorial, reproductive,…) and place it in the relevant ecological context.

Outcome 3: Students will be able to ask critical questions about scientific papers, discuss them and summarize their main findings.

Outcome 4: Students will learn how to observe animal behavior in the field and how to record their observations (find and identify observed birds, place them in the proper taxonomic group; describe their observations supported with field sketches).

Outcome 5: Students will design field observations and experiments required to test hypotheses and carry out the necessary field work.

Outcome 6: Students will be able to analyze and interpret the observations, explain and defend their interpretations and conclusions.

Outcome 7: Students will learn to extract information to formulate research hypotheses and develop an observation protocol to carry out the fieldwork in order to collect critical data (observations, experiments) to test their hypotheses.