Sexual Selection and the Barn Swallow

Sexual Selection and the Barn Swallow PDF Author: Anders Pape Møller
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 9780198540281
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
An important empirical test of the theoretical predictions of sexual selection theory, this book presents a long-term field study of the monagamous barn swallow. By using information on behaviour, ecology, morphology, genetics, and evolution, the book reviews this theory and its twocomponents: male-male competition and female choice.The selective advantages of a long tail are investigated for this common bird, demonstrating such effects as mating behaviour, copulation behaviour, migration strategies, and host-parasite interactions.A rich informative text which clearly elucidates the mechanisms and consequences of sexual selection.

Sexual Selection and the Barn Swallow

Sexual Selection and the Barn Swallow PDF Author: Anders Pape Møller
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 9780198540281
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 365

Get Book Here

Book Description
An important empirical test of the theoretical predictions of sexual selection theory, this book presents a long-term field study of the monagamous barn swallow. By using information on behaviour, ecology, morphology, genetics, and evolution, the book reviews this theory and its twocomponents: male-male competition and female choice.The selective advantages of a long tail are investigated for this common bird, demonstrating such effects as mating behaviour, copulation behaviour, migration strategies, and host-parasite interactions.A rich informative text which clearly elucidates the mechanisms and consequences of sexual selection.

The Behavior of Animals

The Behavior of Animals PDF Author: Johan J. Bolhuis
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119109507
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
The Behavior of Animals An updated view of animal behavior studies, featuring global experts The Behavior of Animals, Second Edition provides a broad overview of the current state of animal behavior studies with contributions from international experts. This edition includes new chapters on hormones and behavior, individuality, and human evolution. All chapters have been thoroughly revised and updated, and are supported by color illustrations, informative callouts, and accessible presentation of technical information. Provides an introduction to the study of animal behavior Looks at an extensive scope of topics- from perception, motivation and emotion, biological rhythms, and animal learning to animal cognition, communication, mate choice, and individuality. Explores the evolution of animal behavior including a critical evaluation of the assumption that human beings can be studied as if they were any other animal species. Students will benefit from an updated textbook in which a variety of contributors provide their expertise and global perspective in specialized areas

Bird Love

Bird Love PDF Author: Wenfei Tong
Publisher:
ISBN: 1782407480
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Exploring the sex life of birds and their wide range of fascinating mating and parenting habits, this comprehensive study gives you a detailed insight into bird family life. Discover the amazing array of courtship techniques employed by birds around the world, such as ospreys bringing gifts of food in exchange for sex, male skylarks performing aerial acrobatics to impress females, or long-tailed widowbirds showing off their tails to advertise the quality of their genes. But it's not all about males seeking to impress or dominate females: sex roles can be reversed, and the book includes examples such as the black coucal, whose females leave the males to perform all childcare duties. The essential guide to bird family life, Bird Love is richly illustrated with stunning colour photographs, and regular Backyard Bird boxes in each chapter showcase familiar species from around the world. There is also an index and further reading at the back of the book for those wanting to learn more about the many different species of birds in this book! Bird Love covers a whole host of unique bird mating and parenting habits, from practical to peculiar, and is divided into sections on: Ecology and Mating Systems, Courtship, Nests and Eggs, Raising Chicks, Sex Role Reversals, Group Breeding, Brood Parasitism. From female hornbills who seal themselves in to their tree hollow nests, relying on their mates to deliver food through a narrow slit, to the eclectus parrots of Melanesia, whose females fight each other to secure a home due to the limited availability of nesting spots, and who can if succesful enjoy up to seven mates, this book is filled with wild stories of the lengths birds will go to survive and thrive in the wild. Varying levels of parental care are revealed, from both parents having to provide constant care to allowing an insurance chick to die to ensure at least one survives. And either sex can desert the nest in search of further matings to secure another clutch of chicks and the continuation of their family line. Brood parasitism, where birds such as cuckoos and cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds' nests, takes absentee parenting to the extreme and the book explores how these species have evolved to delegate all parental care. Alongside, it also shows how host species have cleverly developed a wide range of tactics to defend their nests and their own families. This complete guide is the ultimate study in the mating and parenting lives of birds of all kinds, and is the perfect gift for either a seasoned ornithologist or an amateur bird fancier. Stunning photographs accompany the deep scientific knowledge of author Wenfei Tong, making this a must have for anyone interestered in avian life!

Nest Building and Bird Behavior

Nest Building and Bird Behavior PDF Author: Nicholas E. Collias
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400853621
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
This book is a comprehensive study of nest-building behavior in birds. A much-needed synthesis of the previously scattered literature on this central aspect of avian biology, it is organized by behavior problems and focuses on evolution as its unifying theme. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Bird-parasite Interactions

Bird-parasite Interactions PDF Author: Jenella E. Loye
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 9780198577386
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 406

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Book Description
Birds are hosts to many parasites, internal and external. The parasites inevitably form a burden to the host bird and therefore may affect its ability to grow, survive, and reproduce; its behaviour; and the distribution and abundance of the whole species. In consequence, bird-parasite systemshave attracted attention from diverse fields and the literature has been spread out in a wide range of specialized journals. The editors of this book have drawn together a comprehensive range of experts in the field to provide an invaluable reference of current work in bird-parasite interactions. The book is divided into four parts. The introduction provides the contemporary context of research in bird-parasite systems and presents case studies which combine theoretical concepts with experimental data. Subsequent parts focus on the ecology; behavioural responses; and the effect ofparasitism on sexual selection.

Sexual Selection and the Barn Swallow

Sexual Selection and the Barn Swallow PDF Author: Anders Pape Møller
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198540298
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
This informative book details the important effects sexual selection has on barn swallow mating behavior, mating competition, parental care, host-parasite interactions, and migration strategies. The first two chapters present a concise, insightful review of the two main components of sexualselection theory--male-male competition and female choice. Citing evidence from the author's long-term field work on the monogamous barn swallow, subsequent chapters investigate the advantages held by males with colorful plumage and by females who are choosy when selecting a mating partner. In hisexploration of the roles of behavior, ecology, morphology, genetics, and evolution, Moller provides an invaluable synthesis of barn swallow mating behavior research. Students and researchers of ecology, animal behavior, ornithology, and evolutionary biology will welcome this book.

The Imitation Factor

The Imitation Factor PDF Author: Lee Alan Dugatkin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0684864533
Category : Animal behavior
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
An acclaimed biologist draws on a wide range of his own and others' research into the behavior of fish, birds, whales, and humans to reveal the failure of genetic determination to explain mating behavior and the fundamental process of learning.

Evolution's Rainbow

Evolution's Rainbow PDF Author: Joan Roughgarden
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520957970
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 491

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Book Description
In this innovative celebration of diversity and affirmation of individuality in animals and humans, Joan Roughgarden challenges accepted wisdom about gender identity and sexual orientation. A distinguished evolutionary biologist, Roughgarden takes on the medical establishment, the Bible, social science—and even Darwin himself. She leads the reader through a fascinating discussion of diversity in gender and sexuality among fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, including primates. Evolution's Rainbow explains how this diversity develops from the action of genes and hormones and how people come to differ from each other in all aspects of body and behavior. Roughgarden reconstructs primary science in light of feminist, gay, and transgender criticism and redefines our understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality. Witty, playful, and daring, this book will revolutionize our understanding of sexuality. Roughgarden argues that principal elements of Darwinian sexual selection theory are false and suggests a new theory that emphasizes social inclusion and control of access to resources and mating opportunity. She disputes a range of scientific and medical concepts, including Wilson's genetic determinism of behavior, evolutionary psychology, the existence of a gay gene, the role of parenting in determining gender identity, and Dawkins's "selfish gene" as the driver of natural selection. She dares social science to respect the agency and rationality of diverse people; shows that many cultures across the world and throughout history accommodate people we label today as lesbian, gay, and transgendered; and calls on the Christian religion to acknowledge the Bible's many passages endorsing diversity in gender and sexuality. Evolution's Rainbow concludes with bold recommendations for improving education in biology, psychology, and medicine; for democratizing genetic engineering and medical practice; and for building a public monument to affirm diversity as one of our nation's defining principles.

Current Ornithology

Current Ornithology PDF Author: Richard Johnston
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461323851
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
It is not often that a century of scholarly activity breaks conveniently into halves, but ornithology of the first half of the 20th century is clearly different from that of the second half. The break actually can be marked in 1949, with the appearance of Meyer and Schuz's Ornithologie ais Biologische Wissenschaft. Prior to this, ornithologists had tended to speak mostly to other ornithologists, experiments (the testing of hy potheses) were uncommon, and a concern for birds as birds was the dominant thread in our thinking. Subsequent to 1949, ornithologists have tended to become ever more professional in their pursuits and to incorporate protocols of experimental biology into their work; more importantly perhaps, they have begun to show a concern for birds as agencies for the study of biology. Many of the most satisfying of recent ornithological studies have come from reductionist research ap proaches, and have been accomplished by specialists in such areas as biochemistry, ethology, genetics, and ecology. A great many studies routinely rely on statistical hypothesis testing, allowing us to come to conclusions unmarred by wishful thinking. Some of us are ready to tell the world that we are a "hard" science, and perhaps that time is not so very far off for most of us. Volume 2 examines several solid examples of late 20th-century ornithology.

The Barn Swallow

The Barn Swallow PDF Author: Angela Turner
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408128217
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
The Barn Swallow is a familiar and popular bird throughout the world. It is one of the most widely distributed bird species, breeding in North America, Europe, Asia and North Africa and wintering in South America, southern Africa, southern Asia and even northern Australia. Its habit of nesting close to human habitation has made this elegant bird a part of farmyard and village life and a welcome herald of spring. This book examines all aspects of the life of this endearing bird, with chapters on its flying skills and feeding habits, mate choice, breeding strategies, nest sites, eggs and incubation, nestling rearing, productivity and survival, migratory behaviour and population dynamics. It also considers changes in populations and behaviour in relation to intensive agriculture and climate change. The Barn Swallow is both engaging and authoritative; birdwatchers will enjoy amazing insights into the life of the species, such as the importance of tail feathers when finding a mate, or the sinister way that some birds kill of the chicks of rivals. Academic scholars will appreciate the book's broad overview of current research on this species.