Biology of Bird Flight

MOLLI Fall 2009 :  Thursday October 1 – November 5, 2009

9:00 – 10:30 Todd Building

Bret Tobalske, Ph.D.

Office:  208 Health Sciences Building (Campus) and Field Station at Fort Missoula

Phone:  243-6631

E-mail:  bret.tobalske@mso.umt.edu

Office Hours (HS 208): MW 10-12, & by appointment

Course Description:  This is an exciting time to study the biology of bird flight because new techniques have permitted for the first time a variety of measurements that have long been the subject of the human imagination. Topics in this MOLLI course will include aerodynamics, the design of the flight muscles, skeleton, and wing, ecological and evolutionary patterns associated with self-powered flight and mechanisms used to reduce the power required for flight:  intermittent flight, soaring on thermals, and migrating with tailwinds.  The course will conclude with maneuvering flight.  Two field trips are proposed:  one to the Field Research Station at Fort Missoula to observe the techniques used to study birds in flight, the other to local bottomlands (Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge) to observe birds in flight in the wild. 

Class Schedule:

Interested in reading more about these subjects?  Here are a couple of books to consider:

Birds in Flight: The Art and Science of How Birds Fly  (Great overview, with splendid photos)

Nature's Flyers: Birds, Insects, and the Biomechanics of Flight  (Another great overview, somewhat more technical than above)

Life in Moving Fluids (Considers all aspects of fluid dynamics in relation to biology, clear and amusing writing style, not math intensive)