May 20, 2022
09:00 to 11:30
Rather than giving my Vertebrate Biology students a conventional written final exam, I decided to do something more adventurous: have them participate in a BioBlitz on campus so I could assess their knowledge of local wildlife and identification techniques. For anyone not familiar with the term, a BioBlitz is an effort to document biodiversity in a given location during a certain period of time. While the structure of these events can vary, the idea is to identify as many species as possible in the time you are given.
For this event, I allowed the students to form teams. They would be competing against one another, and also against me. I allowed them to use any materials they wanted to use – field guides, iNaturalist, etc., in order to make identifications. I, on the other hand, would only be able to count species that I could identify without any identification guides. This was actually a win/win situation for me . . . if I found the most species, YAY, I WIN! But if any of the teams find more species that I do, that means I taught them well, so again, I WIN! 🙂 Plus, I had a big bag of prizes from the dollar store, enough prizes for everyone, although the “grand prize” winning teams had first pick. There were two ways to win: to identify the highest number of vertebrates (which is how the grades would be determined), and a runner-up prize for the team that found the highest number of species across all taxonomic groups.
One of the nine teams did identify more vertebrates species than I did, and another identified more organisms than I did across all groups, a result that I was pleased with. I think the top count of vertebrates was 32 species (identified in a period of 90 minutes). I found 30 in that time. 🙂
Below is my complete list.
Species List
Vertebrates: Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), California Quail (Callipepla californica)*, Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), Nuttall’s Woodpecker (Dryobates nuttallii)*, Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans), Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis), California Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica)*, American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus), Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens), American Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), American Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)*, Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana), American Robin (Turdus migratorius), House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria), Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), California Towhee (Melozone crissalis), Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)*, Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)*, Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata), Pond Slider (Trachemys scripta), Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)
* Heard
Notable Invertebrates, Fungi and Plants: Common cat’s ear (Hypochaeris radicata), Boxelder (Acer negundo), Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), Wild radish (Raphanus sativus), Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Greater periwinkle (Vinca major), Arroyo willow (Salix lasiolepis), Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), California buckeye (Aesculus californica), Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), Graceful bedstraw (Galium porrigens), California wild grape (Vitis californica), Spicebush (Calycanthus occidentalis), Milk thistle (Silybum marianum), Common snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), California wild rose (Rosa californica), Oregon grape (Berberis aquifolium), Tasmanian blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus), Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), Northern California black walnut (Juglans hindsii), Red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), Pink honeysuckle (Lonicera hispidula), Miner’s lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), Lichen (common green shield) (Flavoparmelia caperata), Common daisy (Bellis perennis), California juniper (Juniperus californica), Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), Goldfields (Lasthenia sp), Pacific poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), Common ivy (Hedera helix), Common pill woodlouse (Armadillidium vulgare), Harding grass (Phalaris aquatica), Black mustard (Brassica nigra), Valley oak (Quercus lobata), Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Common vetch (Vicia sativa), California ash (Fraxinus dipetala), Yellow-faced bumblebee (Bombus vosnesenskii), Italian thistle (Carduus pycnocephalus), Foothill carpenter bee (Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex)
Let me know what you think!