The Sensory Ecology of Birds

The Sensory Ecology of Birds PDF Author: Graham R. Martin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199694532
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Get Book

Book Description
1. Bird's eye views -- 2. Vision -- 3. Hearing and olfaction -- 4. Touch, taste, and magnetoreception -- 5. From senses to sensory ecology -- 6. Birds in the dark : complementary and partial information -- 7. Birds underwater : a paucity of information -- 8. What drives bird senses? -- 9. The sensory ecology of collisions and entrapment -- 10. Postscript: Conclusions, implications, and comment

The Sensory Ecology of Birds

The Sensory Ecology of Birds PDF Author: Graham R. Martin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199694532
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Get Book

Book Description
1. Bird's eye views -- 2. Vision -- 3. Hearing and olfaction -- 4. Touch, taste, and magnetoreception -- 5. From senses to sensory ecology -- 6. Birds in the dark : complementary and partial information -- 7. Birds underwater : a paucity of information -- 8. What drives bird senses? -- 9. The sensory ecology of collisions and entrapment -- 10. Postscript: Conclusions, implications, and comment

Sensory Ecology, Behaviour, and Evolution

Sensory Ecology, Behaviour, and Evolution PDF Author: Martin Stevens
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019960178X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Get Book

Book Description
It deals with both mechanistic questions (e.g.

Bird Senses

Bird Senses PDF Author: Graham R. Martin
Publisher: Pelagic Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1784272175
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 474

Get Book

Book Description
Graham Martin takes the reader deep into the world of birds from a new perspective, with a ‘through birds’ eyes’ approach to ornithology that goes beyond the traditional habitat or ecological point of view. There is a lot more to a bird’s world than what it receives through its eyes. This book shows how all of the senses complement one another to provide each species with a unique suite of information that guides their daily activities. The senses of each bird have been fine-tuned by natural selection to meet the challenges of its environment and optimise its behaviour: from spotting a carcase on a hillside, to pecking at minute insects, from catching fish in murky waters, to navigating around the globe. The reader is also introduced to the challenges posed to birds by the obstacles with which humans have cluttered their worlds, from power lines to windowpanes. All of these challenges need explaining from the birds’ sensory perspectives so that effective mitigations can be put in place. The book leads the reader through a wealth of diverse information presented in accessible text, with over 100 colour illustrations and photographs. The result is a highly readable and authoritative account, which will appeal to birdwatchers and other naturalists, as well as researchers in avian biology. The author has researched the senses of birds throughout a 50-year career in ornithology and sensory science. He has always attempted to understand birds from the perspective of how sensory information helps them to carry out different tasks in different environments. He has published papers on more than 60 bird species, from Albatrosses and Penguins, to Spoonbills and Kiwi. His first fascination was with owls and night time, and owls have remained special to him throughout his career. He has collaborated and travelled widely and pondered diverse sensory challenges that birds face in the conduct of different tasks in different habitats, from mudflats and murky waters, to forests, deserts and caves. In recent years he has focused on how understanding bird senses can help to reduce the very high levels of bird deaths that are caused by human artefacts; particularly, wind turbines, power lines, and gill nets.

Interspecific Competition in Birds

Interspecific Competition in Birds PDF Author: André A. Dhondt
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199589011
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 295

Get Book

Book Description
Provides a current, critical review of the importance of interspecific competition, considering the evolutionary effects of interspecific competition, its importance in structuring communities, and influence on the traits of individual species.

Bird Sense

Bird Sense PDF Author: Tim Birkhead
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 140883054X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Get Book

Book Description
What is it like to be a swift, flying at over one hundred kilometres an hour? Or a kiwi, plodding flightlessly among the humid undergrowth in the pitch dark of a New Zealand night? And what is going on inside the head of a nightingale as it sings, and how does its brain improvise?Bird Sense addresses questions like these and many more, by describing the senses of birds that enable them to interpret their environment and to interact with each other. Our affinity for birds is often said to be the result of shared senses - vision and hearing - but how exactly do their senses compare with our own? And what about a birds' sense of taste, or smell, or touch or the ability to detect the earth's magnetic field? Or the extraordinary ability of desert birds to detect rain hundreds of kilometres away - how do they do it?Bird Sense is based on a conviction that we have consistently underestimated what goes on in a bird's head. Our understanding of bird behaviour is simultaneously informed and constrained by the way we watch and study them. By drawing attention to the way these frameworks both facilitate and inhibit discovery, it identifies ways we can escape from them to seek new horizons in bird behaviour.There has never been a popular book about the senses of birds. No one has previously looked at how birds interpret the world or the way the behaviour of birds is shaped by their senses. A lifetime spent studying birds has provided Tim Birkhead with a wealth of observation and an understanding of birds and their behaviour that is firmly grounded in science.

Sensory Evolution on the Threshold

Sensory Evolution on the Threshold PDF Author: J. G. M. Thewissen
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520252780
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book

Book Description
Ranging from crocodiles and penguins to seals and whales, this synthesis explores the function and evolution of sensory systems in animals whose ancestors lived on land. It explores the dramatic transformation of smell, taste, sight, hearing, and balance that occurred as lineages of reptiles, birds, and mammals returned to aquatic environments.

Behavioural and Morphological Asymmetries in Vertebrates

Behavioural and Morphological Asymmetries in Vertebrates PDF Author: Yegor B. Malashichev
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1498713378
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Get Book

Book Description
This volume grew out of the 2nd International Symposium on Behavioral and Morphological Asymmetries, which took place in St. Petersburg (Russia) in September 2004 at the St. Petersburg State University under the patronage of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists. The Symposium is the descendant of a satellite event with a similar name of the 4t

The Migration Ecology of Birds

The Migration Ecology of Birds PDF Author: Ian Newton
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 012823752X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 725

Get Book

Book Description
The Migration Ecology of Birds, Second Edition covers all aspects of this absorbing subject, including migratory processes, problems of navigation and vagrancy, timing and physiological control of migration, large-scale movement patterns, the effects of recent climate change, the problems that migrants face, and the factors that limit their populations. This book provides a thorough and in-depth review of the state of the science, with the text supplemented by abundant tables, maps and diagrams. Written by a world-renowned avian ecology and migration researcher, this book reveals the extraordinary adaptability of birds to the variable and changing conditions across the globe. This book represents the most updated and detailed review of bird migration, its evolution, ecology and bird physiology. Written in a clear and readable style, it will appeal not only to migration researchers in the field and ornithologists, but to anyone with an interest in this fascinating subject. Features updated and trending ecological aspects, including various types of bird movements, dispersal and nomadism, and how they relate to food supplies and other external conditions Contains numerous tables, maps, diagrams, a glossary, and a bibliography of more than 3,000 up-to-date references Written by an active researcher with a distinguished career in avian ecology, including migration research

The Secret Perfume of Birds

The Secret Perfume of Birds PDF Author: Danielle J. Whittaker
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421443481
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

Get Book

Book Description
The untold story of a stunning discovery: not only can birds smell, but their scents may be the secret to understanding their world. The puzzling lack of evidence for the peculiar but widespread belief that birds have no sense of smell irked evolutionary biologist Danielle Whittaker. Exploring the science behind the myth led her on an unexpected quest investigating mysteries from how juncos win a fight to why cowbirds smell like cookies. In The Secret Perfume of Birds—part science, part intellectual history, and part memoir—Whittaker blends humor, clear writing, and a compelling narrative to describe how scent is important not just for birds but for all animals, including humans. Whittaker engagingly describes how emerging research has uncovered birds' ability to produce complex chemical signals that influence their behavior, including where they build nests, when they pick a fight, and why they fly away. Mate choice, or sexual selection—a still enigmatic aspect of many animals' lives—appears to be particularly influenced by smell. Whittaker's pioneering studies suggest that birds' sexy (and scary) signals are produced by symbiotic bacteria that manufacture scents in the oil that birds stroke on their feathers when preening. From tangerine-scented auklets to her beloved juncos, redolent of moss, birds from across the world feature in Whittaker's stories, but she also examines the smelly chemicals of all kinds of creatures, from iguanas and bees to monkeys and humans. Readers will enjoy a rare opportunity to witness the twisting roads scientific research can take, especially the challenging, hilarious, and occasionally dangerous realities of ornithology in the wild. The Secret Perfume of Birds will interest anyone looking to learn more about birds, about how animals and humans use our senses, and about why it can sometimes take a rebel scientist to change what we think we know for sure about the world—and ourselves.

What Is a Bird?

What Is a Bird? PDF Author: Tony D. Williams
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691200165
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
"There are some 10,000 bird species in existence today, occupying every continent and virtually every habitat on Earth. The variety of bird species is truly astounding, from the tiny bee hummingbird to the large flightless ostrich, making birds one of the most diverse and successful animal groups on the planet. Taking you inside the extraordinary world of birds, What Is a Bird? explores all aspects of these remarkable creatures, providing an up-close look at their morphology, unique internal anatomy and physiology, fascinating and varied behavior, and ecology. It features hundreds of color illustrations and draws on a broad range of examples, from the familiar backyard sparrow to the most exotic birds of paradise. A must-have book for birders and armchair naturalists, What Is a Bird? is a celebration of the rich complexity of bird life"--Dust jacket.