Ornithology B/C

[Paradox21]

Question...

When you print the bird list for competitions, is it better for it to be one double sided page or two separate pages?

I think it is better to have 2 separate pages. That way you can have the full bird list out at all times, you don't have to keep flipping. NOTE: You can NOT write on the back of these pages, they are just blank,you can write on the front. But I keep a double sided copy with me at competitions that I can swap out if the event supervisor is picky.

[googlyfrog]

On the list, it puts New World Vultures under Order Ciconiiformes. In our guide, it puts them under Falconiformes. Which one is right, and which one should we use if this comes up at a competition? Falconiformes seems to make more sense, but I'm thinking we should probably go by what the list says.

[courage7856]

On the list, it puts New World Vultures under Order Ciconiiformes. In our guide, it puts them under Falconiformes. Which one is right, and which one should we use if this comes up at a competition? Falconiformes seems to make more sense, but I'm thinking we should probably go by what the list says.

Wikipedia has it as Accipitriformes, but I see Falconiformes more often.

[crazy77]

also the northern fulmar are listed under the order of podicipediformes on the new york list but under procellariiformes on allaboutbirds. as stated before, we should definetly put what the lists says even if other sources say something different

[amerikestrel]

On the list, it puts New World Vultures under Order Ciconiiformes. In our guide, it puts them under Falconiformes. Which one is right, and which one should we use if this comes up at a competition? Falconiformes seems to make more sense, but I'm thinking we should probably go by what the list says.

Wikipedia has it as Accipitriformes, but I see Falconiformes more often.

It has been said before that their are no "official" classifications, and therefore there is no right answer. I believe Sibley and Ahlquist (or perhaps a subsequent ornithologist) showed that new world vultures are more closely related to Ciconiiformes using DNA-DNA hybridization, but that method hasn't been accepted by all scientists. Therefore, new world vultures could easily be put into Ciconiiformes or Falconiformes and it could be considered correct.

For the competition, definitely go by what the list says. That is hypothetically what the test maker should use when creating the test for this event. Plus, if they mark you wrong, you have a good argument.

[Celeste]

On the list, it puts New World Vultures under Order Ciconiiformes. In our guide, it puts them under Falconiformes. Which one is right, and which one should we use if this comes up at a competition? Falconiformes seems to make more sense, but I'm thinking we should probably go by what the list says.

I noticed and thought the exact same thing, because my guide has them under Falconiformes, too. It may seem weird, but the vultures are more closely related to the Ciconiiformes from an evolutionary standpoint, even though they look and act more like Falconiformes. Their placement is different in nearly every source, but you should definitely go with what the list says for competitions.

[kjhsscioly]

Placed fourth at crystal lake, but the we should have done better. The majority of our test was not on ID, which we focused on. Also, it asked us to ID a bunch of nests and eggs. It also had a real (dead+stuffed ) great horned owl, hooded mergansers, and what i though was a swooping cooper's hawk. I wonder how the event supervisor accuired so many specimens. He also had large displays with many smaller bird in them at almost every station.

Also, does anyone know how feathers vary between species? One of the stations on our test had a large feather, about 18 inches long, and asked us to tell what bird it was from. The feather was plain brown with a white shaft and had no other identifiable markings. My partner and i ended up saying it was a golden eagle feather.

Other thing tested on were vocab, skeletal structure, Migration routes nearest to Illinois, and calls.

Coincidentally, are you coming to Crystal Lake invitations? I also happen to have another event as a last minute addition for this invitationals, Environmental Chemistry, due to a schedule change and conflicts.

I am. Thanks for the advice. Two people quit our team at the last minute, and my Fossils Partner literally said he wasn't going to help me prepare for Crystal Lake, so I have a lot on my hands. Good luck on Saturday!

How did you do? what did you think of the test?

[Flavorflav]

Uniform brown all over - no striping or anything? Was there anything distinctive about the shape? Was it a flight feather or a tail feather?

[courage7856]

Placed fourth at crystal lake, but the we should have done better. The majority of our test was not on ID, which we focused on. Also, it asked us to ID a bunch of nests and eggs. It also had a real (dead+stuffed ) great horned owl, hooded mergansers, and what i though was a swooping cooper's hawk. I wonder how the event supervisor accuired so many specimens. He also had large displays with many smaller bird in them at almost every station.

Also, does anyone know how feathers vary between species? One of the stations on our test had a large feather, about 18 inches long, and asked us to tell what bird it was from. The feather was plain brown with a white shaft and had no other identifiable markings. My partner and i ended up saying it was a golden eagle feather.

Other thing tested on were vocab, skeletal structure, Migration routes nearest to Illinois, and calls.

Coincidentally, are you coming to Crystal Lake invitations? I also happen to have another event as a last minute addition for this invitationals, Environmental Chemistry, due to a schedule change and conflicts.

I am. Thanks for the advice. Two people quit our team at the last minute, and my Fossils Partner literally said he wasn't going to help me prepare for Crystal Lake, so I have a lot on my hands. Good luck on Saturday!

How did you do? what did you think of the test?

I didn't do so great. My partner there hadn't helped me prepare either, and I think we came in 26th. Only event where Varsity beat me. The test was pretty broad, though, so I think I know what I should work on.

[kjhsscioly]

We got our Ornithology test back today, and i found out that the feather was a sandhill crane - - Which is not on the list!!!!! I will try to get the test up on the exchange. The event director was very irritating. He counted off so many questions because the scientific names were not underlined/Italicized. Also, chia says...

"the calls were really off. the northern cardinal sounded like something else entirely! ... of the five calls tested, we only got the whip-poor-will correct, when we very well could have done some other ones too."

chia stops ranting now.