By Chris Sasaki

When describing the rewards of birding, Michael Dennison recalls a quote from the best-selling novelist and dedicated birder Jonathan Franzen: “If you could see every bird in the world, you’d see the whole world.”

While students in Dennison’s third-year Diversity of Birds course may not have seen the whole world, they did discover bird-friendly locations in Toronto and a surprising array of avian species—all while honing their birding skills.

Dennison, a sessional instructor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, developed the course and has taught it for 15 years.

In the course, students learned about avian ecology, behaviour, evolution, and conservation. Topics included the origin of birds and flight, reproductive anatomy and breeding ecology, visual and auditory displays, feeding ecology and adaptive radiation, as well as urban ecology.

In addition to anatomy-related topics, students explored bird diversity and behaviour, examining how different species communicate and interact with their environments.

One lab focused on the different vocalizations of the northern cardinal, a bird common to southern Ontario.

“In the lab, students classified different calls from a number of different calls,” says Dennison. “For example, they looked at the song sharing between male birds, because the males are territorial and defend those territories with song.”

For most students, the highlight of the course was leaving the lecture hall and lab, visiting locations like Tommy Thompson Park and High Park, and learning to identify birds in the field with their eyes and ears.

“I discovered that the best way to learn about birds is to simply go out and observe them,” says Sage Pallett, a member of University College in the third year of a Psychology specialist program, with a Biodiversity and Conservation major.

“That’s the best way to learn to identify them and see the diversity,” they say. “So the course’s mix of field and lab work was just incredible. I absolutely loved it.”

For many students, the course was an opportunity to take their personal interest in nature and birds to a whole other level.

“My interest in birds began when I was very young,” says Jaico Yin, a fourth-year Victoria College student, double-majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Human Biology, with a minor in Environmental Science.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the organisms around me. But what truly made birds stand out for me was discovering the board game ‘Wingspan’ in high school. Then, in my second year at U of T, I started photographing birds. Since then, my interest has grown into a real passion. Now, I consider myself a true birder.”

According to Pallett, “When I was young, my family always had a bunch of bird feeders and bird baths, and I had a big bird feeder right outside my window. Back then I couldn’t tell a sparrow from a finch, but I loved watching them all.”

“So, I was very excited to take a course that helped me learn more about birds and how to identify them. And I’ve gotten deeply into it. I went birding pretty much every weekend throughout the course and I plan to keep it up. I’m hooked!”

For their main project, the students created and submitted lists of birds they saw during their outings. They compiled and uploaded their lists with e-Bird, the popular citizen-science birding app that helps birders find birds in their area.

“The best way to learn about birds is to simply go out and observe them.”

“Students were marked according to the diversity of the birds on their lists—whether they’d seen a taxonomic mix of water birds, land birds, and so on,” says Dennison. “Also, we looked at the quality of audio recordings and photographs they captured. For example, were they able to get a good quality recording of a bird that contained variations of the bird’s songs?”

“Working on the project was one of the most fun assignments I’ve had,” says Pallett. “It’s not in class at all—you just go out every weekend and bird!”

At the same time, this bird course is far from a ‘bird course.’

“I’m hoping to do work in community ecology,” says Pallett. “I’m not sure exactly what I want to do yet, but I do know I want to study insects. And this course helped because there are a lot of fascinating bird-insect interactions like predator-prey and parasitism.”

“I took this course primarily because of my personal interest in birds,” says Yin. “I’d always wanted to learn more about avian anatomy and physiology.”

“But the knowledge I gained from this course will be valuable for my broader research interests in the ecology and evolution of diseases and pests, especially if I were to study avian-related diseases such as avian influenza.”

Millions of people who took up birding during the pandemic discovered how rewarding the pastime is on many levels—and so did the students during the course.

“If you’re even a little bit interested or passionate about birds, it’s a phenomenal course,” says Pallett. “Learning about the creatures we share this world with and learning about the birds we take for granted, that we hear in the mornings, especially during spring—it’s wonderful.”

Originally published April 16, 2026, on University of Toronto Faculty of Arts & Science News.