FIELD ORNITHOLOGY: BIOSM 374/ZOOL 510

dates:              MAY 26 - JUNE 9, 2008

credit hours:    4 semester credits

total cost:        $3,768 (includes room, board and tuition) 

Prerequisite: One full year of college level biology; background in ornithology or vertebrate biology is recommended, but not required.



Get a broad introduction to ornithology using the birds of the Isles of Shoals as your primary “lab material.” Live among nesting Herring and Black-backed Gulls. Travel to neighboring islands to see terns and cormorant nesting colonies (and see some baby seals and a guillemot while at it). Scan the horizon for diving Gannets while on a whale watch off the Islands. Explore the differences between island and mainland birds during a mainland field trip. Course topics include avian diversity, anatomy, ecology, physiology, and behavior. Field techniques include field identification, audio recording, bird banding, surveying and censusing.

Faculty: Dr. David Bonter (pictured on left above), Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
Read D. Bonter's article about his time spent on Appledore teaching in summer 2007. 
He says, "There's no better way to build class unity than to head into a colony of irritated Herring and Great Black-backed gulls."

To view the 2007 Field Ornithology class photo album – CLICK HERE!