OWL SUBJECT CODES AND KEYWORDS
Keywords
and subject codes are one of the principal windows on accessing the
record. The Title and Abstract
fields are the other major avenues of finding records in a search. The Subject Codes avoid complications
with word spelling, phraseology and word choice that can vary, even between
English speaking nations (molt v. moult, ringing v. banding). The sequence of the subject codes, keywords
or multiple scientific names in the Keyword field is not relevant,
although the more important codes are often near the front of the list to make
edits a little easier. When in doubt, we
have provided a code that may not actually apply in order to let the future
user of OWL decide if they wish to pursue the citation. More than 70% of the OWL records have two or more codes and
keywords. Old citations from converting
the Recent Ornithological Literature supplements may lack many specific codes
or keywords that apply, since the records were coded or given keywords based
only upon what information was printed in that supplement. The B100-series is used to indicate that
other life history information not indicated in the title or abstract is
likely.
Users
of the OWL database should fully review the list of subject codes and use those
in a query that may apply, noting that they can request all codes in one main
topic series by truncating the code to first two digits (EXAMPLE: B7* will
select for all breeding behavior codes).
The Title, Abstract, and Keyword fields have been
carefully spell checked as much as possible.
We cannot spell check the names of persons or local places in most cases
in any of the fields.
Topics
in italics after some subheadings only suggest a partial list of the
subtopics included and are not intended to be a complete or inclusive list.
B010 NEW JOURNAL of
interest to ornithologists
B030 RENAMED or
RENUMBERED JOURNAL of interest to ornithologists
B050 DISCONTINUED
JOURNAL of interest to ornithologists
B070 CORRECTION to
published paper of interest to ornithologists
B100 AVIAN BIOLOGY
and LIFE HISTORY STUDIES (geographical area of the study is indicated, which
may not necessarily be the species' whole range)
B102 General or
Worldwide
B104 Africa, sub‑Saharan
and Madagascar
B106 Antarctica and
sub‑Antarctica
B108 Australia, New
Guinea, New Zealand
B110 Europe and
Iceland, west half of Russia incl.
B112 Mexico, Central
America, and Caribbean
B116 North Africa
and Middle East (Turkey & Georgia to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan &
Tajikistan)
B118 North America
and Greenland
B120 Northern and
Far East Asia, incl. Kazakhstan, Tibet, Japan, Taiwan, & E. half of Russia
B124 Oceanic
islands, not incl. elsewhere (e.g., Hawaii, Azores, Galapagos,
Seychelles, Falklands), and oceans of the world >200 NM from land.
B126 Old World or
Palearctic, incl. all of Russia
B128 Oriental
(India, Pakistan, SE Asia, Indonesia, Philippines)
B130 South America
B300 BEHAVIOR and
COMMUNICATION
B302 Agonistic,
aggressive, & defensive behavior; mobbing; mate or nest guarding
B304 Learning and
intelligence; recognition; tool use
B306 Locomotion: Flight,
swimming and diving, walking, climbing
B308 Self‑maintenance:
Daily time budget, preening, head scratching, bathing, anting, roosting,
sleeping, perching
B310 Sensory
perception: auditory, magnetic, olfactory, tactile and visual sensing
B312 Sexual behavior:
Courtship displays, pair bonding, copulation, leks (see B714)
B314 Social
behavior: Colonial behavior, social organization & interactions, flock
behavior
B316 Territorial
behavior and home range; sizes and distribution
B318 Visual signals,
not specifically for sexual behavior
B320 Vocalizations
and other sounds
B500 BIRDS and
HUMANS
B502 Collisions,
electrocutions, entanglement, and other man‑induced injury or fatalities;
incl. corrective measures
B504 Effects (pos.
or neg.) upon livestock, crops, fisheries, or similar enterprises (see E520)
B508 Gamebird
management, hunting
B509 Introduced
avian species for largely non‑game purposes (see B908 for non-avian sp.)
B510 Uses of birds
by humans, incl. archeology, folk lore, mythology (for hunting see B508; for
trade see B914)
B700 BREEDING HABITS
B702 Breeding
schedule and dates (phenology); attempts/season; breeding age (see also C918)
B704 Brood
parasitism, egg dumping, and foster parenting & adoptions
B706 Cooperative,
colonial or communal breeding; helpers
B708 Effects of
human studies or presence on nesting (see also E515)
B710 Eggs,
incubation, hatching, egg physiology and morphology; clutch size (see C918)
B714 Mating systems,
mate selection, extra‑pair mating, & paternity; sex ratio (see B312)
B716 Nesting
habitat, nest site and structure, & nest building
B718 Parental care
and feeding of young or incubating/brooding mate
B720 Young, from
hatching to fledging & independence; growth and development
B900 CONSERVATION
B902 Captives: maintenance,
rehabilitation, and release; zoo avian collections
B904 Declining or
endangered native species; extinction or extirpation (see B509 for exotic avian
species)
B906 Education
programs, politics, and planning; legal protective measures
B908 Effects of man‑made
environmental changes: Fragmentation, urbanization, agriculture,
forestry, fisheries, exotic plant or animal introduction; use of manmade
features/structures (see also C902)
B910 Habitat
protection and management; importance of habitats (more specific than B912)
B912 Species
protection and recovery measures, incl. but not limited to transplants, re‑introductions
B914 Wild bird trade
(not incl. in B510)
C100 DISEASES,
PARASITES, and PATHOLOGY
C102 Disease and
disease transmission & prevention
C104 Parasites: External,
internal
C106 Pathology and
injury
C300 DISTRIBUTION,
ZOOGEOGRAPHY and AVIFAUNAL HISTORY (geographical area of the study is
indicated, which may not necessarily be the species' whole range)
C302 General or
Worldwide
C304 Africa, sub‑Saharan
and Madagascar
C306 Antarctica and
sub‑Antarctica
C308 Australia, New
Guinea, New Zealand
C310 Europe and
Iceland, west half of Russia incl.
C312 Mexico, Central
America, and Caribbean
C316 North Africa
and Middle East (Turkey & Georgia to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan &
Tajikistan)
C318 North America
and Greenland
C320 Northern and
Far East Asia, incl. Kazakhstan, Tibet, Japan, Taiwan, & E. half of Russia
C324 Oceanic
islands, not incl. elsewhere (e.g., Hawaii, Azores, Galapagos,
Seychelles, Falklands), and oceans of the world >200 NM from land.
C326 Old World or
Palearctic, incl. all of Russia
C328 Oriental
(India, Pakistan, SE Asia, Indonesia, Philippines)
C330 South America
C700 DOCUMENTATION
C702 Bibliographies
and databases, libraries; literature reviews or indexes
C704 Biographies,
obituaries, bird observatories and organizations, and history
C706 Collecting and
collections, specimens; record keeping
C708 Ornithological
terminology, definitions
C900 ECOLOGY,
ENVIRONMENT, and POPULATIONS
C902 Biocides and
pollution
C904 Birds as
environmental monitors or indicators
C906 Effects of
climate, weather, fire, or celestial events (e.g., tides, sunrise/set, eclipse)
C908 Habitat
structure, selection, change, or use; plant community; habitat suitability
models or indexes
C909 Impacts
(recent) by birds on their environment or other species (see also D106)
C910 Life span and
survivorship rates
C912 Mortality
causes (does not incl. C916, except when in a list of all causes of mortality)
C914 Population
numbers, censuses, trends, and dynamics (see D904 for migration counts)
C916 Predation upon
avian species, eggs or young (more specific than C912; also see D302 if
predator is a bird)
C918 Reproductive
effort, success and productivity; recruitment
C920 Site fidelity
and dispersal (often based upon marked individuals)
C922 Species
composition and competition; biodiversity; community structure & dynamics
C924 Trophic levels
and energy cycles and related relationships in ecosystem
C926 Winter and
migration habitat
D100 EVOLUTION and
SYSTEMATICS
D103 Classification
and phylogeny
D105 Evolutionary
patterns, rates, and processes: species or higher categories; theories &
hypotheses
D106 Co-evolution
between an avian and another animal or plant species (see also C909)
D108 Intraspecific
variation of any character, behavior, or other feature; intergrading of
subspecies
D110 New avian taxa
(see C104 for new parasite taxa)
D112 Species
concepts
D114 Taxonomy and
nomenclature; etymology; types; vernacular & colloquial names for birds
D300 FOOD HABITS and
NUTRITION
D302 Diet, food
selection, avian predators, nutrition, and prey abundance (also see C916 if
prey is avian)
D304 Drinking,
pellet‑casting, and defecation
D306 Foraging habits
and food transport and storage (for last, see also B304)
D308 Kleptoparasitism
D500 GENETICS and
HYBRIDIZATION
D502 Behavioral and
population genetics; phenotypes
D504 Genetic
polymorphism, cytogenetics and molecular genetics
D508 Hybrids and
progeny
D700 IDENTIFICATION
D702 Species and
subspecies identification
D704 Sex or age
class identification
D900 MIGRATION and
NAVIGATION
D902 Migratory
behavior: how or why individuals prepare, start or stop migration; how they
soar, fly or swim on migration; speed; time of day or night.
D904 Migratory
dates, timing, counts, and routes; distribution of recovered marked birds (see
C914 for population estimates and C920 for dispersal and philopatry)
D906 Migratory
physiology: lipid accumulation rates and amounts (see also E118)
D908 Navigation and
homing: cues, proximal, distant; imprinting
E100 MORPHOLOGY and
PHYSIOLOGY
E101 Abnormal
external appearance: plumage, soft
body parts
E102 Circulatory and
lymphatic systems: vessels, blood, blood chemistry
E104 Digestive
system
E106 Embryology and
development of embryo (see B710 and B720)
E108 Endocrine
system and hormones
E110 Excretory
system and water metabolism: Urinary structures, nasal glands
E112 Immune system
E114 Integument: Feathers,
molts, plumages, other integumentary structures, skin; bill structure
E116 General
morphology: Body size and mass, regional morphology, sexual dimorphism
E118 Physiology and
biochemistry: Body composition, day length effects, energy metabolism and
body temperature, lipid physiology & storage, protein physiology
E120 Reproductive
system and physiology (see B710)
E122 Respiratory
system
E124 Sensory and
nervous system
E126 Skeletomuscular
system
E300 PALEORNITHOLOGY
(oldest to youngest)
E302 Triassic,
Jurassic, Cretaceous (lower, middle and upper Mesozoic) or earlier fossils
E304 Paleocene,
Eocene and Oligocene fossils (early or lower Tertiary)
E306 Miocene and
Pliocene fossils (late or upper Tertiary)
E308 Pleistocene and
Holocene fossils and subfossils (see B510 for archeology)
E310 Site surveys
E500 TECHNIQUES
E501 Binoculars,
telescopes, night vision and other non‑photographic optical equipment
E502 Biochemical or
biophysical assay
E504 Captive
studies; also breeding, care, rehabilitation, and release
E506 Censuses, maps,
and surveys
E508 Environmental
monitoring, incl. remote sensing, GIS and related methods
E509 Feeding habits
and diet analysis
E510 Field and
laboratory study methods NOT incl. elsewhere under E500-series
E512 Genetic studies
E514 Mathematical
models: population, growth and other statistics
E515 Nesting
studies, incl. nest boxes& other structures designed for birds;
manipulations of nest, clutch, brood or nestling food
E516 Photographic,
imaging or video documentation, incl. radiographic, scanning electron
microscopy, computer imaging, fibre optics
E518 Physiological
methods
E520 Predator and
nuisance control or protection therefrom
E522 Sound
recording, playback, analysis
E524 Tracking and
remote monitoring, radio‑telemetry, radar
E526 Trapping,
netting, marking, and taking field measurements & record keeping
Rev: July 8, 2004