By Laurie D. Morrissey

If you take a walk on Saint Anselm's campus with Dr. Jay Pitocchelli on an April morning, you're likely to see as many as 20 or 30 species of birds. You might spot an Eastern Bluebird on the athletic fields, a tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet singing outside the North Annex, or a Cooper's Hawk soaring over Saint Anselm Drive. And he's excited about every one of them, from the commonest crow to the rarest warbler.

"Even if you've seen thousands of crows, you can observe something new about them," he says. "Every time you step outside, it's an opportunity." He's interested not only in what birds are spotted, but where they're seen and what they are doing.

The aptly named "Dr. Jay" is a biology professor who is passionate about birds: bird behavior, bird song, bird genetics, bird plumage, and everything else avian. (He can even tell you about bird symbols in ancient art.) Although ornithology is not offered every year, Pitocchelli often includes bird labs in his general biology, biostatistics, and evolutionary biology courses. His enthusiasm is infectious, according to Dave DesRochers '00, who has just finished a master's degree and is going on to a doctorate in ornithology. If the professor could fit birds into his human anatomy and physiology course, most likely he would.

1 | 2 | 3