Beginning next semester, anyone interested in observing the variety of avian wildlife on campus will be able to use a guidebook that the group plans to publish as its final project. So far, the six students have spotted 96 bird species on Brown's campus, including an eagle and a falcon.
"Birds are accessible, small, but always there," said Professor of Geological Sciences Jan Tullis. As faculty advisor for the GISP, Tullis critiques the students' papers and sometimes sits in on their classes. The course is, however, entirely run by the students, Tullis said. She added that the GISP is a good example of the success of student initiative and the advantages Brown's open curriculum.
The class follows on the heels of the creation of the Brown Boobies bird-watching club last fall, which was created by two of the students in the GISP, Robert Winton '07 and Peter Capobianco '07. Capobianco, the most experienced birdwatcher of the group, has been an active "birder" since the age of 13.
Modeled after an ornithology course at Cornell University, the syllabus includes scientific articles and videos on the evolution, psychology, population dynamics and migration patterns of birds. Capobianco, who compiled the syllabus, drew on his knowledge from previous biology courses at Brown as well as his own reading on the subject.
For two-and-a-half hours each week, the students discuss articles such as "Interspecific Attraction to the Mobbing Calls of Black-capped Chickadees." A "mobbing call" is often made by small birds to summon them together and chase out a predator, sometimes by flying directly at the intruder, Capobianco said.
Guest lectures, like the one given by Professor Emerita of Biology and Medicine Annette Coleman two weeks ago titled "The Egg," are also incorporated into the course.
On Sunday mornings, when they aren't in the classroom, the bird lovers get up early to walk around campus with binoculars in hand. Birding involves finding and identifying birds and writing down as much information about each bird as can be gathered - including sex, age and behavior as well as the weather conditions at the time of the sighting.
In October, the class took a field trip to Block Island, R.I., a popular resting spot for migrating birds. The overnight expedition allowed students to observe a variety of species. Despite wind and rain, the group explored the island from the earliest hours of the morning until sundown.
For those students in the class who are not veteran birdwatchers, the long hours and unfamiliar jargon have been occasionally overwhelming. Birding can be very intense, said Stephanie LaRose '07. It can be intimidating for less experienced birders as the veterans among them shorten the names of birds when asking, "What bird are you on?" LaRose said.
Students have to be able to recognize both the appearance and calls of birds for the class's final exam, which will include both a visual and an auditory identification test. This knowledge is gained through extensive birding. "It's almost all hearing," Capobianco said of being able to identify birds. "I can go around without binoculars."
"What many people don't realize is that different birds are different species, they are not just different breeds like dogs," Capobianco said. "It's like comparing chimpanzees and humans. Some birds are incredibly smart ... birds can solve problems," he said.
No longer a pastime exclusively for retired individuals, birding can be competitive and exciting, Winton said. "It becomes like a treasure hunt, like collecting baseball cards," he said.
As the semester comes to a close, the group is in the process of preparing its birding guide describing the species they have spotted on campus, which will be published and made available at the Brown Bookstore. Members said they hope the guide will encourage more Brown community members and visitors to College Hill to become interested in birds.
