Course format: Lectures: 1:30P-3:10P, MTWR, JH A100.

Requirements:  No background necessary.

Course description: Topic: The Wide World of Birds.  The course is
designed to introduce students to the study of birds, looking at
their behaviors (including migration, nesting, and singing);
examining their habits; exploring the adaptations of birds to their
environment (looking at their diets, mode of foraging, specific
habitat, etc., and how they are related to birds’ structural &
plumage characteristics); and studying their mating strategies
(e.g., why some birds sing and others dance to attract mates).  No
biology background is necessary.  If you have ever been curious
about why some birds come to feeders and others do not, or why you
see some birds on campus and different birds in the woods, or what
makes birds sing, this course is designed to answer those questions
and many more.

Required text: Attenborough, David; The Life of Birds; Princeton
University Press, 1998. “Field Guide to the Birds of North America,
fourth edition; National Geographic Society, 2002.
Weekly assignments: Readings: one-two chapter per week.

Exam/papers: Two hourly exams plus cumulative final.