Ornithology B/C

[sciencegeek100]

it would be extremely helpful to have a binder...the list seems to be really long (longer than my fossils list at least)...the list for feathered frenzy from a while ago anyways

my binder didnt really help for fossils...maybe thats just because the questions were so easy it was really not needed...

it is long, but almost all of them look unique... the old list had a binder but they also had like 5 sparrows and 4 more finches... like 25 small brown birds...

i already have 1 5 inch binder to carry around, i dont want to carry a 2nd.. LOL

[kjhsscioly]

yes, most of our bird are quite distinguishable... and since you have two people, it come down to 92 birds per person, which really isn't that bad

[paleonaps]

The calls of the songbirds are (in my opinion) the hardest aspect of the event. All the others are easy, like ravens, red tailed hawks, bald eagles, and even mockingbirds (why they would give us something that can mimic hundreds of sounds is beyond me). The others are harder, and I hate the mnemonics they have. The only ones that make sense are the Mallard quack and the who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all thing for the Barred owl. All the others take a huge amount of imagination. which I am far too literal for.

[Celeste]

Yeah, I think the calls of all the songbirds will be one of the hardest things to learn. *grabs ipod and starts memorizing*

Was anybody here at the St. James Thunder invite? If so, what did you think about the test? I liked it, it was really interesting, and I got 4th overall.

[sciencegeek100]

And the cooper's hawk has wide black bands on it's gray tail.

i saw a pair of cooper's hawks attacking a great horned owl.... it was awesome...

[duckiegirl2]

Really? The owl must have been near their nest...

[Deeisenberg]

Cooper's Hawks eat mostly birds. They eat things as big as pheasants, Great Horned Owls are smaller than many pheasants.

[Deeisenberg]

I'm pretty sure that you aren't allowed to put any type of paper (post-its included) in the field guide, apart from small tabs that allow you to navigate easily to certain pages. But you can write directly in the guide, and you can also write on the back of the bird list.

If you want to be very careful, I encourage you to submit a clarification on this.

You cannot write on the back of the list unless it is going to count as one of your pages of notes.

No offense, but a field guide should really be all you need, as long as you get one with all the details included... I'm a member of the Pennsylvania Envirothon, and I have to know all PA bird species without using any field guides as a resource; I used to find that difficult and annoying, now I'm entirely grateful, and I hope it earns me a nice first place metal... Additionally about half of the bird calls required for this Sci-O event are covered on the Pennsylvania bird calls CD I have to state for the state envirothon competition...

On a difficult well designed test, there is no field guide that will be able to answer the majority of the questions.

[crazy77]

Did anyone go to the Athens Invitational in Pennsylvania this past weekend and participate in this event?
If so, what did u think of the test? My question is, what list was the event supervisor basing the test on? Is there some pennsylvania state bird list i'm unfamiliar with? Because there were definetly questions on birds that were not on the national list.....

[Deeisenberg]

Did anyone go to the Athens Invitational in Pennsylvania this past weekend and participate in this event?
If so, what did u think of the test? My question is, what list was the event supervisor basing the test on? Is there some pennsylvania state bird list i'm unfamiliar with? Because there were definetly questions on birds that were not on the national list.....

Pennsylvania uses the national list, however New York (The supervisor was from Islip) does have a modified list. Really though, someone had to get screwed over, if it was made by the national list the New York teams would be disadvantaged, made with the New York list (as it was) and Pennsylvania teams would be disadvantaged. You'll notice as a result that the top 5 teams were all from New York.

I suppose that it is really on balance for the best since most the teams at Athens are from New York.