Professor Kevin Erling Omland
Professor · Tenured
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
He/Him/His/Himself
About
BA, Dartmouth College; PhD, University at Albany (SUNY); Postdocs: Duke, Univ. Minnesota, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. UMBC Faculty 2000 – present. Australian National University 2007, 2010. UMBC Presidential Research Professor 2016-2019.
Research interests
Broad interests in evolutionary trees and in the ecology, evolution, behavior and conservation of birds. Current focus on the conservation biology of several threatened or near-threatened orioles, especially the Puerto Rican Oriole. Ongoing work on female song, including comparing temperate and tropical oriole species. Previous research: Evolutionary Biology - molecular phylogeny and population genetics of closely related birds to study speciation and character evolution, especially orioles (genus Icterus) and ravens (genus Corvus). Book in press for Cambridge University Press (UK), “Understanding the Tree of Life”. Publication Fall 2025.
Keywords: phylogeny, tree thinking, tree of life, conservation biology, evolutionary biology, ornithology, ecology, evolution, animal behavior.
Teaching interests
Biology 142: Introductory Ecology and Evolution; Biology 481: Avian Biology - Evolution, Ecology, Behavior & Conservation. More broadly: biodiversity, evolution, phylogeny, animal behavior, conservation. Especially interested in teaching clear tree thinking as there is no "ladder of progress" in evolution.
Education
- Ph D, Biology — The University at Albany, SUNY (1995)
- BA, Biology — Dartmouth College (1985)
Publications
- Understanding the Tree of Life 2025
- Acoustic features, syllable usage, and song rates of male and female song in a tropical island songbird, the Puerto Rican Oriole 2025
- Sex-specific responses to simulated territorial intrusions provide evidence for relaxed selection pressure on female song in Orchard Orioles 2024
- Population genetics reveal migratory connectivity of the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). 2022
- Female song is structurally different from male song in Orchard Orioles, a temperate-breeding songbird with delayed plumage maturation. 2022
- Comparing global and local maps of the Caribbean pine forests of Andros, home of the critically endangered Bahama Oriole 2021
- Hierarchical distance sampling reveals increased population size and broader habitat use of the endangered Bahama oriole 2021
- Large female song repertoires and within-pair song type sharing in a temperate breeding songbird 2021
- Complex mosaic of sexual dichromatism and monochromatism in Pacific robins results from both gains and losses of elaborate coloration 2020
- Female song in eastern bluebirds varies in acoustic structure according to social context 2020
- The role of diversity in science: a case study of women advancing female birdsong research 2020
- Nuclear introns help unravel the diversification history of the Australo-Pacific Petroica robins 2019
- Standing genetic variation as the predominant source for adaptation of a songbird 2019
- A new statistical method to test equivalence: An application in male and female eastern bluebird song 2018
- Diversification of Petroica robins across the Australo-Pacific region: first insights into the phylogenetic affinities of New Guinea’s highland robin species. 2018
- Genomic evidence of speciation reversal in ravens 2018
- New documentation of pine forest nesting by the critically endangered Bahama Oriole (Icterus northropi). 2018
- Females and males respond more strongly to duets than to female solos: comparing the function of duet and solo singing in a tropical songbird (Icterus icterus). 2017
- Sequencing of the complete mitochondrial genome of the common raven Corvus corax (Aves: Corvidae) confirms mitogenome-wide deep lineages and a paraphyletic relationship with the Chihuahuan raven C. cryptoleucus 2017
- Divergence in calls but not songs in the orchard oriole complex: Icterus spurius and I. fuertesi 2016
- Documentation of female song in a newly recognized species, the Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis) 2016
- Morphological and genetic variation of the Yellow-backed Oriole (Icterus chrysater) across its widely disjunct distribution in Central America 2016
- Differentiating the evolution of female song and male–female duets in the New World blackbirds: Can tropical natural history traits explain duet evolution? 2015
- Distinctiveness of Pacific Robin subspecies in Vanuatu revealed from disparate patterns of sexual dichromatism, plumage colour, morphometrics and ancient DNA 2015
- Female song is widespread and ancestral in songbirds 2014
- History and mechanisms of carotenoid plumage evolution in the New World orioles (Icterus) 2014
- Evolution of carotenoid pigmentation in caciques and meadowlarks (Icteridae): repeated gains of red plumage coloration by carotenoid C4-oxygenation. 2014
- Coalescent analyses show isolation without migration in two closely related tropical orioles: the case of Icterus graduacauda and Icterus chrysater 2013
- Tree thinking: interpreting phylogenetic trees 2013
- Extensive introgressive hybridization within the northern oriole group (Genus Icterus) revealed by three-species isolation with migration analysis 2012
- Incomplete song divergence between recently diverged taxa: syllable sharing by Orchard and Fuertes’ orioles 2012
- Convergent gains of red carotenoid-based coloration in the New World blackbirds. Auk 2011
- Environmental niche modeling reveals climatic differences among breeding ranges of Orchard Oriole subspecies 2011
- Increasing evidence of the role of gene flow in animal evolution: hybrid speciation in the yellow-rumped warbler complex. Molecular Ecology 2011
- Random interbreeding between cryptic lineages of the common raven: evidence for speciation in reverse. Molecular Ecology 2011
Presentations
- Invited Symposium Talk: Focus on Female Birds "Evolution of elaborate female color and female song in New World orioles" 2024
- Good News from a Caribbean Island Endemic: Downlisting the Bahama Oriole from “Critically Endangered” to “Endangered” 2023
- Why diversity matters: gender biases and the study of female bird song. 2020
Research in Progress
- Breeding ecology of Eastern Bluebirds in urban versus rural habitats. 2025
- Conservation Biology of the Puerto Rican Oriole 2022
Courses Taught
- Foundations of Biol: Eco/Evo