Download or read book A Comparative Study of the Behavior of Red winged Tricolored and Yellow headed Blackbirds written by Gordon H. Orians and published by . This book was released on 1968 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Phylogenies and the Comparative Method in Animal Behavior written by Emília P. Martins and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1996 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last ten years, the "comparative method" has been revolutionized by modern statistical ways of incorporating phylogenies into the design and analysis of comparative studies. The results of this revolution are particularly important in the study of animal behavior, which has relied on interspecific comparisons to infer universal trends and evolutionary patterns. The chapters of this edited volume consider the impact of modern phylogenetic comparative methods on the study of animal behavior and discuss the main issues that need to be considered in design and analysis of a comparative study, considers possible differences between the evolution of behavior and the evolution of morphology, and reviews how phylogenetic comparative studies have been used in certain areas of behavioral research.
Download or read book Ecology and Management of Blackbirds Icteridae in North America written by George M. Linz and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shortlisted for the 2018 TWS Wildlife Publication Awards in the edited book category The various species of new world blackbirds, often intermingled in large foraging flocks and nighttime roosts, collectively number in the hundreds of millions and are a dominant component of the natural and agricultural avifauna in North America today. Because of their abundance, conspicuous flocking behavior, and feeding habits, these species have often been in conflict with human endeavors. The pioneering publications on blackbirds were by F. E. L. Beal in 1900 and A. A. Allen in 1914. These seminal treatises laid the foundation for more than 1,000 descriptive and experimental studies on the life histories of blackbirds as well as their ecology and management in relation to agricultural damage and other conflicts such as caused by large winter roosting congregations. The wealth of information generated in over a century of research is found in disparate outlets that include government reports, conference proceedings, peer-reviewed journals, monographs, and books. For the first time, Ecology and Management of Blackbirds (Icteridae) in North America summarizes and synthesizes this vast body of information on the biology and life histories of blackbirds and their conflicts with humans into a single volume for researchers, wildlife managers, agriculturists, disease biologists, ornithologists, policy makers, and the public. The book reviews the life histories of red-winged blackbirds, yellow-headed blackbirds, common grackles, and brown-headed cowbirds. It provides in-depth coverage of the functional roles of blackbirds in natural and agricultural ecosystems. In doing so, this authoritative reference promotes the development of improved science-based, integrated management strategies to address conflicts when resolutions are needed.
Download or read book Evolutionary Biology written by Max K. Hecht and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first volume of Evolutionary Biology was published thirteen years ago. Since that time thirteen volumes and one supplement have appeared. As stated in earlier prefaces, we are continuing the focus of this series on critical reviews, commentaries, original papers, and controversies in evolu tionary biology. It is our aim to publish papers primarily of greater length than normally published by society journals and quarterlies. We therefore invite colleagues to submit chapters that fall within the focus and standards of Evolutionary Biology. The editors regretfully announce that Dr. William C. Steere has decided to withdraw from the editorial board of Evolutionary Biology. Dr. Ghillean T. Prance will replace Dr. Steere for forthcoming volumes. Manuscripts should be sent to anyone of the following: Max K. Hecht, Department of Biology, Queens College of the City University of New York, Flushing, New York 11367; Bruce Wallace, Department of Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850; Ghillean T. Prance, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York 10458. The Editors vii Contents 1. Some Relationships between Density-Independent Selection and Density-Dependent Population Growth Timothy Prout Introduction ............................................ . Part I. The Basic Model: Definitions, Assumptions, and Relationships .................................... 3 Part II. Biological Aspects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . Introduction ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . . The Biological Interpretation of the Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . Experimental and Observational Aspects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . Part III. Census-Stage Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 . . . . . . . . Introduction ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 . . . . . . . . . . . Two-Point Census ...................................... 23 Three-Point Census: Classical Selection .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 42 . . . Summary of Two-and Three-Point Censuses. . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 . . . Part IV. Summary and Some Implications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 . . . . Summary.............................................. 52 Some Implications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 . . . . . . . . . . Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Download or read book Polygyny and Sexual Selection in Red Winged Blackbirds written by William A. Searcy and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this book is to explain why red-winged blackbirds are polygynous and to describe the effects of this mating system on other aspects of the biology of the species. Polygyny is a mating system in which individual males form long-term mating relationships with more than one female at a time. The authors show that females choose to mate polygynously because there is little cost to sharing male parental care in this species, and because females gain protection against nest predation by nesting near other females. Polygyny has the effect of intensifying sexual selection on males by increasing the variance in mating success among males. For females, polygyny means that they will often share a male's territory with other females during the breeding season and will thus be forced to adapt to frequent female-female interactions. This work reviews the results of many studies by other researchers, as well as presenting the authors' own results. Studies of red-winged blackbirds have ranged from long-term investigations of reproductive success and demography, to research on genetic parentage based on modern molecular methods, to a variety of experimental manipulations of ecological circumstances and behavior. Since the red-winged blackbird is one of the best studied species of any taxa in terms of its behavior and ecology, the authors have a particularly extensive body of results on which to base their conclusions. Originally published in 1995. 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.
Download or read book Animal Behavior written by Ken Yasukawa and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-01-22 with total page 1165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover why animals do what they do, based on their genes, physiologies, cultures, traditions, survival and mating advantages, and evolutionary histories—and find out how studying behavior in the animal world helps us understand human behavior. The three volumes of Animal Behavior: How and Why Animals Do the Things They Do cover the breadth of the field, addressing causation, development, function, and evolution in a wide range of animals, from invertebrates to humans. Inspired by Nobel laureate Nikolaas Tinbergen's work, the first two volumes follow Tinbergen's four classic questions of animal behavior, while the third volume supplies integrated examples of Tinbergen's investigative process applied in specific cases. Written in an engaging, accessible manner ideal for college students as well as general audiences, this evidence-based collection provides a fascinating tour of animal behaviorists' findings, such as how animal communication can be truthful or deceitful, the deadly serious business behind clashes in the "battle of the sexes," and how documentation of animal behavior can lead to a deeper understanding of human behavior. Each chapter provides both historical background and information about current developments in animal behavior knowledge.
Download or read book Current Ornithology written by Richard Johnston and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If it is still true that more than 80% of the ornithologists in North America are primarily interested or engaged in ecological studies on birds (J. R. King and W. J. Bock, Final Report of the Workshop on a National Plan For Ornithology, 1978), then Volume 3 of Current Orni thology is preadapted for their consideration. All but one article in this volume are somehow concerned with the ecological aspects of the bi ology of birds. Variation in the scope of topical coverage is relatively broad, and includes conservation, reproduction, behavior, community structure, and evolutionary ecology. Three reviews concern the pervasive effects of man and industry on various bird populations of the world. Risebrough provides a de tailed description of the relationships between pesticides and bird pop ulations. Morrison ass es ses aspects of bird population numbers as in dicators of environmental change, and Temple outlines current research on endangered species. The broad spectrum of reproductive ecology of birds is variously treated in this volume. Jehl and Murray explore sexual selection and some of the resulting complexities in the evolution of sexual size di morphism, primarily in shorebirds. Lawton and Lawton are concerned with the relationships between social behavior and breeding systems in which variation is found in the age at which reproduction is first undertaken. Oring examines the wide-ranging variation in polyandrous breeding systems in birds, while Rohwer is concerned with adoption versus infanticide in birds, and their relationships to reproductive fit ness.
Download or read book Orioles Blackbirds and Their Kin written by Alexander F. Skutch and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2021-10-19 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From blackbirds and orioles to meadowlarks, grackles, and cowbirds, the variety and variation shown by members of the family Icteridae is legend. The family exhibits great diversity in size and coloration, mating and nest building, and habits and habitats. This group of 94 New World species once known as the troupials is well represented in backyards across America; yet most icterids are tropical or semi-tropical species that remain largely unstudied. The least known of these species are perhaps best known to Alexander Skutch, who has studied birds in a Costa Rican tropical valley for more than half a century. In this fascinating book the first devoted exclusively to the icterids—he combines his own observations with those of other naturalists to provide a comparative natural history and biology of this remarkable family of birds. Devoting a separate chapter to each major group or genus, he delineates the outstanding characteristics of each and includes observations of little-studied tropical species such as caciques and oropendolas. Orioles, Blackbirds, and Their Kin is an eminently readable natural history in the classic style. Enhanced by 31 scratchboard illustrations, this book will delight nature enthusiasts everywhere with its fascinating exposition of avian diversity. Because so much of the published information on the icterids is widely scattered, Skutch's painstaking compilation has created a valuable reference work that will provide students and researchers with a wealth of new insights into the tropical members of this New World family.
Download or read book Red winged Blackbirds written by Les D. Beletsky and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on detailed data from their sixteen-year study of red-winged blackbirds in the marshes of Washington's Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, Beletsky and Orians analyze the information redwings use to make breeding-season decisions and the consequences these decisions have for lifetime reproductive success. Because male and female redwings make different, and often independent, decisions—males focus on territory acquisition and maintenance, while females must choose when and where to nest and how much energy to invest in reproduction—the authors have taken the novel approach of studying the sexes separately. Using analyses of observational data combined with field experiments and game-theoretical models, the authors provide new insights into the complex patterns of reproductive decision-making and breeding behavior in redwings. This book will be of interest to all who study social animals, including behavioral ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and ornithologists.
Download or read book Comparative Studies of Hearing in Vertebrates written by A. N. Popper and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past two decades have seen an extraordinary growth of interest in the auditory mechanisms of a wide range of vertebrates and invertebrates. Investigations have ranged from auditory mechanisms in relatively simple animals where just a few cells are em ployed for detection of sound, to the highly complex detection and processing systems of man and the other mammals. Of particular significance to us has been the growing interest in general principles of vertebrate auditory system organization, as opposed to a specific and limited concern for the mammalian or even human systems. Some of the interest in nonmammalian systems has risen from the desire to fmd simpler experi mental models for both the essential components (e. g. , the hair cell receptor) and the more complex functions (e. g. , frequency analysis) of all vertebrate auditory systems. Interest has also risen from questions about the evolution of hearing and the covariation (or lack of it) in structure and function in a wide variety of biological solutions to the problems of acoustic mechanoreception. Of course, the desire to fmd simpler experi mental models and the need to answer questions about the evolution of hearing are not unrelated. In fact, detailed analyses of a variety of systems have led several times to the realization that some of the "simple systems" are more complex than initially thought.
Download or read book Granivorous Birds in Ecosystems written by Jan Pinowski and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-29 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book was first published in 1977. It deals with the importance of weed seed and grain-eating birds in natural and agricultural environments. These birds are to be found worldwide and are a component of man-made ecosystems where they are associated with man's main food crops. An analysis is made of their evolution and genetics, population dynamics, energy and food requirements, impact on ecosystems and control. Principles, procedures and basic data are presented that can be applied to the evaluation and control of pest species anywhere in the world. In this synthesis volume full use is made of the systems approach, the ecological and evolutionary aspects of the study are integrated. In linking the studies with fundamental work on bioenergetics, new insights are provided into the behavioural and applied aspects of granivory. Studies which encompass archaeological and anthropological investigations form a backcloth for the detailed interpretation of the population biology and bioenergetics of birds.
Download or read book Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man written by Bernard Campbell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-12 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just over one hundred and thirty years ago Charles Darwin, in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), developed remarkably accurate conclusions about man's ancestry, based on a review of general comparative anatomy and psychology in which he regarded sexual selection as a necessary part of the evolutionary process. But the attention of biologists turned to the more general concept of natural selection, in which sexual selection plays a complex role that has been little understood. This volume significantly broadens the scope of modern evolutionary biology by looking at this important and long neglected concept of great importance. In this book, which is the first full discussion of sexual selection since 1871, leading biologists bring modern genetic theory and behavior observation to bear on the subject. The distinguished authors consider many aspects of sexual selection in many species, including man, within the context of contemporary evolutionary theory and research. The result is a remarkably original and well-rounded view of the whole concept that will be invaluable especially to students of evolution and human sexual behavior. The lucid authority of the contributors and the importance of the topic will interest all who share in man's perennial fascination with his own history. The book will be of central importance to a wide variety of professionals, including biologists, anthropologists, and geneticists. It will be an invaluable supplementary text for courses in vertebrate biology, theory of evolution, genetics, and physical anthropology. It is especially important with the emergence of alternative explanations of human development, under the rubric of creationism and doctrines of intelligent design.
Download or read book Sociobiology written by Edward O. Wilson and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2000-03-24 with total page 712 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When this classic work was first published in 1975, it created a new discipline and started a tumultuous round in the age-old nature versus nurture debate. Although voted by officers and fellows of the international Animal Behavior Society the most important book on animal behavior of all time, Sociobiology is probably more widely known as the object of bitter attacks by social scientists and other scholars who opposed its claim that human social behavior, indeed human nature, has a biological foundation. The controversy surrounding the publication of the book reverberates to the present day. In the introduction to this Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition, Edward O. Wilson shows how research in human genetics and neuroscience has strengthened the case for a biological understanding of human nature. Human sociobiology, now often called evolutionary psychology, has in the last quarter of a century emerged as its own field of study, drawing on theory and data from both biology and the social sciences. For its still fresh and beautifully illustrated descriptions of animal societies, and its importance as a crucial step forward in the understanding of human beings, this anniversary edition of Sociobiology: The New Synthesis will be welcomed by a new generation of students and scholars in all branches of learning.
Download or read book Current Ornithology written by D.M. Power and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Volume 12, eminent international ornithologists further elucidate endocrinological correlates of mating strategies and hormones and reproductive behavior; assess the value of the ''brood reduction hypothesis'' in explaining ''the paradox of hatching asynchrony''; and explore the validity and sensitivity of growth bands in feathers as an indication of nutritional condition and the use of feather banding in studying growth. Chapters are well supported with charts, maps, schematic diagrams, and photographs. Current Ornithology is the only English-language publication currently devoted exclusively to extensive reviews and synthesis of topics pertaining to all aspects of the biology of birds. Chapters fall under such diverse rubrics as ecology, evolution, behavior, phylogeny, behavioral ecology, anatomy and physiology, and conservation biology. All authors are leading authorities on their subjects, and each chapter is refereed by experts in the topics covered. Although all chapters focus primarily on birds, some topics, such as the social cognition of birds as compared to primates (Volume 13), have significant application to disciplines outside of ornithology. Current Ornithology aims to provide an accessible, up-to-date, accurate source of data and to contribute to conceptual generalization and unification across the biological sciences.
Download or read book Some Adaptations of Marsh Nesting Blackbirds MPB 14 Volume 14 written by Gordon H. Orians and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The variety of social systems among the New World blackbirds (Family Icteridae) and the structural simplicity of their foraging environment provide excellent opportunities for testing theorics about the adaptive significance of their behavior. Here Gordon Orians presents the results of his many years of research on how blackbirds utilize their marsh environments during the breeding season. These results stem from information he gathered on three species during ten breeding seasons in the Pacific Northwest, on Red-winged blackbirds during two breeding seasons in Costa Rica, and on three species during one breeding season in Argentina. The author uses models derived from Darwin's theory of natural selection to predict the behavior and morphology of individuals as well as the statistical properties of their populations. First he tests models that predict habitat selection, foraging behavior, territoriality, and mate selection. Then he considers some population patterns, especially range of use of environmental resources and overlap among species, that may result from those individual attributes. Professor Orianns concludes with an overview of the structure of bird communities in marshes of the world and the relation of these patterns to overall source availability in these simple but productive habitats.
Download or read book Social Behavior and Communication written by P. Marler and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Other books in this series focus on behavior at the individual level, approached from the viewpoints of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, and psychology. In this volume we show how the functioning nervous systems of interacting individuals are coordinated, with the ultimate creation of complex social structures. The intri cacies of an individual's nervous system have been subject to intense inquiry, and research at the chemical, cellular, and organ levels has made remarkable progress. Work at the social level has been conducted somewhat independently, by way of behavioral phenomena and communicative interactions. With the emergence of a large body of information from neurobiology, the beginnings of an integrated approach are possible. New data on social functions are presented in the chapters to follow, and the forward-looking reader may wish to reflect on how they clarify understanding of interactions between two or more independent nervous systems. The outcome is harmonious social structure and improvement in the inclusive fitness of group-living individuals. We believe that there is in prospect a new way of looking at social function that will ultimately increase our understanding of the highest and most complex levels of neurobiology. The modern approach to the study of social behavior involves more than the recording of interactions between animals. Each individual brings to the process of social interaction the implications of its prior genetic and experiential history.
Download or read book Catalog of Copyright Entries Third Series written by Library of Congress. Copyright Office and published by Copyright Office, Library of Congress. This book was released on 1971 with total page 1510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
