Bird Ecology and Conservation WF-OB-SUBE
Lectures (WYK) Summer semester 2022/23

1. W. J. Sutherland, I. Newton, R. Green. 2004. Bird Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques. Oxford UP

2. Williams D.R., Pople R.G., Showler D.A., Dicks L.V., Child M.F., Erasmus K.H.J. zu Ermgassen E.K.H.J., Sutherland W.J. 2013. Bird Conservation: Global evidence for the effects of interventions. Exeter, Pelagic Publishing.

3. Perrins C.M., Lebreton J.D., Hirons G.J.M. 1991. Bird Population Studies. Relevance to Conservation and management. Oxford University Press.

Articles concerning the birds’ ecology research, bird behaviour studies and active protection of birds

a) Learning outcomes

1. Knowledge:

EK1 - student understands and explains the relationship between ecology, animal behaviour and possibilities and methods of bird protection;

EK2 - Student recognizes the basic terms in a foreign language in terms of ecology, behavior, and species protection

2. Skills:

EK3 - student performs and describes simple research tasks individually and collectively

EK4 – student uses specialized terminology in the field of ecology, animal behaviour and conservation (in English)

EK5 – student prepares simple reports based on the collected data

EK6 – student is able to prepare oral presentations by various means of verbal and visual communication

3.Competences:

EK7 - Improves his/her professional skills in the fieldwork; cares about the reliability and credibility of his/her work

EK8 - The student through the fieldwork as well as the preparation of a multimedia presentation and the discussion recognizes the strengths and weaknesses of his/her skills, attitudes and actions

Students are required to complete the multimedia presentation of the article related to the topic (30 min). The evaluation will assess (a) form, content and the way of presentation and (b) the ability to find suitable material for presentation

Absence from classes will reduce final assessment. Further detailed assessment criteria will be given to participants during the course.

1. The organization of classes. What is the breeding ecology of birds. Basic concepts of ecology and behavior of birds. Conservation issues for birds.

2. Methods of field work with birds – ethical and legal issues, safety in the field

3. Bird census or surveys – why do we count birds?

4. Biology and ecology of breeding birds - the methods of field research

5. Why and how do we catch birds, handling

6. Why do we band birds - metal rings and colour bands and other methods of individual marking

7. Why do we take blood, methods of collection and preservation

8. Diet and foraging – the methods of feeding ecology research

9. Habitat selection and nest-site selection – the methods of field research

10. Behavioural research of birds - what can we observed in the field?

11. Conservation management of endangered birds

12. Habitat management

13. Life in the colonies of gulls and terns

14. Active protection of gulls and terns at the middle Vistula River - a case study

15. Summary of the course

Description of the methods of teaching:

Informative lecture – presentation of the subject-matter, method of teaching and the demands and expectations of working on individual classes and preparing of the report. Clarification of the rules on planning, preparation and implementation of a multimedia presentation

Auditory lectures - supplementation, explaining, also specifying of the themes presented in the presentation

Individual reading of scientific texts - individual reading of scientific materials (books, magazines, Internet), necessary to prepare multimedia presentations on the topic drawn

Analysis of the content of the material - discussion, together with the students in the class on the content of the paper presented to explain the incomprehensible content and possible verification

Talk (discussion) - discussing of the presentation (form, range of topics and presentation), as well as the content. Discussing work in the field, the related ethical issues and threats.

Multimedia presentation - a presentation in PowerPoint or equivalent, drawn on the subject. In the case of individual presentations they should take no less than 20 minutes and not more than 30 min