What is an Ornithologist?

Did you know penguins can jump up to nine feet in the air [1]? Or that pigeons can remember your face the next time they see you [2]? Have you heard that great frigatebirds can sleep while they are flying [3]? There are more than 11,000 bird species on Earth [4], and they each have unique behaviors and appearances (Figure 1). Who are the people who make sense of why birds do the things they do? These scientists are called ornithologists.

Some famous ornithologists include Rosalie Edge, who established the world’s first protected area (Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, USA) for birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, falcons, and vultures. Sálim Ali was one of the first ornithologists to conduct organized bird surveys across India, and he wrote many influential bird books. Roger Tory Peterson was a scientific illustrator whose bird drawings are used in bird identification guides to this day. Peter and Rosemary Grant study Darwin’s finches on the Galápagos Islands and showed that birds can quickly respond to changing environments over generations.

Ornithologists are interested in all things bird related. They study bird songs, flight patterns, the places birds live, and even the bacteria in their guts [5]! By studying birds, ornithologists can learn more about the environment. For example, birds let us know when environments are polluted. They also eat insects that are bad for plants, pollinate plants, clean up dead animals by eating them, and are essential to the survival of other animals in certain habitats. Let us take a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the life of an ornithologist.

How do Ornithologists Study Birds?

Ornithologists use research questions to guide their work. Each question is a specific idea or problem that a scientist wants to know more about. If you have ever looked at a bird and wondered why it looks that way, why it behaves the way it does, or why it sounds the way it does, you are forming a research question. When scientists are not sure what to study, they brainstorm! You have probably brainstormed when thinking of something to write about for class. Brainstorming involves creating ideas and solutions by writing down every idea, even the bad ones. Once the list is formed, you can compare the strengths and weaknesses of the different ideas.

After an ornithologist finds their research question, they must come up with a plan to answer it. This plan often involves observation. Ornithologists use their eyes and ears to identify bird species by their looks, actions, or surroundings. Sometimes ornithologists catch the birds to learn more details. They set up nets called mist nets in areas where birds are likely to fly. When unsuspecting birds fly into it, the net safely holds them until ornithologists arrive with their tools, including a wing ruler and a measuring tool called calipers. One tool that researchers use to keep track of their study subjects is a bird band. This small metal ring attaches to the bird’s tarsus. Each band displays a unique number etched in the metal, so researchers can identify the bird quickly if it is caught again. Sometimes, the same bird is not found again until years later! Scientists can measure different body parts of the bird to determine its age and health (Figure 2). Birds are safely released after measurements.

Some ornithologists study birds that live in Antarctica or in the rainforests of South America. But there are many more places you might find an ornithologist at work. Lots of researchers are studying how animals respond to the changes people create in the environments we share with them, so ornithologists now study birds in cities, towns, parks, and neighborhoods. Your street or favorite playground might already have been visited by an ornithologist! Even a golf course can be a helpful place for researchers to learn about birds.

Other ornithologists study birds inside museums, where they measure very old bird skeletons to understand how birds have changed over time. Even ornithologists who spend lots of time outside might also work in a laboratory, where they use machines to gather information about the bird’s DNA.

Once they have finished gathering information, ornithologists look closely at their data, which might be the number of birds in a specific area, or the environmental conditions (temperature, for example) at the time the birds were observed. They may use math, like statistics, to understand their data. Ornithologists use the scientific method throughout this entire process, to ask and answer questions about the birds that they observe (Figure 3).

How do Ornithologists Communicate Their Findings?

After an ornithologist has organized their findings, they can share ideas with the world in many different ways. To share their work with fellow scientists, they can go to conferences. These are events where ornithologists can give presentations and speak with each other about their bird observations. If an ornithologist wants to reach students or other people who are interested in reading about birds, they can get their research published in scientific journals, books, and field guides. This way, students and the public can learn from ornithologists’ research too.

Ornithologists can also teach classes or give public talks. These talks can inspire future ornithologists by helping people understand science and the environment. Students can use this knowledge throughout their lives when they make decisions about how to care for the environment. Finally, ornithologists can inspire change and action by speaking and communicating with different organizations. These organizations could be wildlife rescue groups or environmental conservation groups, but many other places can benefit from an ornithologist’s knowledge.

How do Ornithologists Help Birds?

Some problems are just a regular part of being a bird. Wild animals need to find food and water, look out for natural predators, protect their babies, and build shelters. These challenges are normal for birds to face, just like it is normal for people to get sick sometimes or forget to do their homework. Other times, birds face problems that are not natural. This can happen when a change in the environment, such as a food source suddenly disappearing, makes birds’ normal problems much harder. In these cases, the challenge can become too hard and unhealthy for the bird. Problems can also happen when birds face new problems they never dealt with in the past, like when they hit glass windows on buildings. Just like you cannot learn to breathe on another planet, birds cannot quickly teach themselves how to deal with these new difficulties.

That is when ornithologists step in to help birds. The information that they collect about birds can tell them when birds are struggling, reveal the reasons why, and show people the best way to fix the problem. Ornithologists’ work on migration patterns has helped people decide where to locate protected habitats so that birds can refuel on the most nutritious fish, insects, fruits, or seeds during their long journeys. Birds use a combination of internal maps and cues to guide their journeys, including the sun, stars, Earth’s magnetic field, and landmarks like mountains. Ornithologists’ research has helped change laws controlling whether certain birds can be hunted and which chemicals can be used in the environments where birds live.

These problems can be hard to solve, so ornithologists often work with other types of experts to fully understand what is happening. Entomologists, scientists who study insects, can help ornithologists identify how declines in insect populations are hurting birds. Behavioral scientists can even study people to teach ornithologists how best to communicate their ideas to others.

How can you Get Involved in Ornithology?

There are many different ways to get involved with birds. You can create a bird feeder using materials like pine cones, peanut butter (be careful of peanut allergies!), and birdseed. You can hang the feeder somewhere near you to attract various birds, which you can then watch and study with a pair of binoculars. If you are up for adventure, visit local museums, nature centers, or bird-focused organizations such as the National Audubon Society. Check out Audubon’s website for kid-friendly bird guides.

Watching birds in the wild for fun is called birding. Field guides and apps help birders of all levels to identify bird species. Merlin Bird ID listens to your surroundings and tells you the species of a bird based on its songs. You can track birds on an app called eBird. These tools allow you to look back on your observations, and ornithologists can use your data in their research. The most important thing to remember is that anyone can be an ornithologist. Start your birding adventure right now!

Glossary

Birds of Prey: ↑ Birds that hunt and eat other animals.

Tarsus: ↑ Lowest part of the bird’s leg before the toes.

DNA: ↑ Instructions stored inside cells that tell our bodies what to do and how to grow.

Conservation: ↑ A type of science with the goal of helping living things survive and thrive.

Migration: ↑ A type of flight where birds typically fly north or south (but it can occur in other directions) depending on the time of year.

Conflict of Interest

The author(s) declared that this work was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

AI Tool Statement

The author(s) declared that generative AI was not used in the creation of this manuscript.

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