Essential Ornithology 2nd Edition by Graham Scott ISBN 9780198804741 0198804741

Chapter 1: Evolution of birds

1.1 Birds are dinosaurs

1.2 Archaeopteryx

1.3 The evolution of modern birds

1.4 The phylogeny of birds

1.4.1 Morphological phylogeny

1.4.2 Character conservation and convergence

1.4.3 Biomolecular phylogeny

1.5 Adaptive radiation and speciation

1.5.1 Darwin’s finches

1.5.2 Genes and evolution

1.5.3 Hybrids

Summary

Appendix 1: Familiar names of the members of the Orders and Families of modern birds

Chapter 2: Feathers and flight

2.1 Feathers

2.1.1 Feather types

2.1.2 Contour feathers

2.1.3 Down feathers and semiplumes

2.2 Feather tracts

2.3 Feather colour

2.4 Feather damage

2.5 Feather maintenance

2.6 Moult

2.6.1 Moult strategies

2.7 Flight

2.7.1 Gliding and soaring

2.7.2 Flapping flight

2.7.3 Respiration and ˜ight energetics

2.7.4 Flying high

2.7.5 Flight speeds

2.8 The evolution of flight and flightness

Summary

Chapter 3: Movement: migration and navigation

3.1 The ecology of migration

3.2 Genes and migration

3.3 Physiology and migration

3.3.1 Seasonality and coordination of migration

3.3.2 Hormones and the control of migration

3.3.3 Fuelling migration

3.3.4 Long haul flights

3.4 The weather and migration

3.5 Navigation

3.5.1 Navigational cues

The sun and the stars

The magnetic field

Following your nose

Summary

Chapter 4: Eggs, nests, and chicks

4.1 Sex and the gonads of birds

4.2 The egg

4.3 Clutch size

4.4 Egg shell colouration and patterning

4.4.1 Camouflage

4.4.2 Egg mimicry

4.4.3 Egg recognition

4.4.4 Signals of quality

4.4.5 Pigments and shell quality

4.5 Nests

4.6 Incubation

4.7 Hatching

4.8 Chicks

Summary

Chapter 5: Reproduction

5.1 Males and females are different

5.2 Mating systems

5.3 Courtship and mate choice

5.3.1 Resource provision

5.3.2 Ornaments and displays

5.3.3 Sharing a mate

5.4 Song

5.4.1 Song learning

5.4.2 Functions of song

5.4.3 Synchronized singing

5.5 Raising a family

5.5.1 Begging

5.5.2 Imprinting and independence

Summary

Chapter 6: Foraging and avoiding predators

6.1 Finding food and capturing prey

6.1.1 Sharing information

6.1.2 Foraging flocks

6.1.3 Do herbivores cooperate?

6.2 Optimal foraging

6.2.1 Feeding territories

6.3 Risk and foraging

6.4 Predator avoidance

6.4.1 Camouflage

6.4.2 Predator distraction displays

6.4.3 Tonic immobility

6.4.4 Alarm calls

6.4.5 Mobbing

6.4.6 Flocks and colonies

Summary

Chapter 7: Populations, communities, and conservation

7.1 Populations

7.1.1 Life history strategies influence population growth

7.1.2 Population change

7.2 Communities

7.2.1 Communities are dynamic

7.2.2 Niche divergence

7.2.3 Niche shifts, ecological release, and competition

7.3 Extinction and conservation

7.3.1 Conservation can be a success

7.3.2 The task that faces us as ornithologists

Summary

Index