Red-winged Blackbirds
Red-winged Blackbirds

Author: Les D. Beletsky

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780226041872

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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.

Birdtalk
Birdtalk

Author: Alan Powers

Publisher: Frog Books

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1583940650

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For the last 20 years, Alan Powers, who lives near Cape Cod, has experimented with birdcalls--mimicking and answering the calls he hears around his country home, in cities, and abroad in France and Italy. In BirdTalk, he celebrates this connection with entertaining allusions to history, literature, travel, linguistics, and other fields. The result is a charming and erudite stroll through an area of interest sometimes lost in the urban din. Powers reveals "birdtalk" by mapping the history of ornithological studies, quoting such bird fanciers as Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson and discussing specific techniques. In one of the most amusing chapters, he describes his attempts to teach the birds new symphonic riffs on their own calls. This illustrated literary inquiry into birdcalls is a nature book with a gift-book look.

The Red-winged Blackbird
The Red-winged Blackbird

Author: Les Beletsky

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13:

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The Red-winged Blackbird is not only one of North America's commonest birds, but also its best studied. It exemplifies the contribution that in-depth species studies can make to many of the central issues in behavioral ecology. In this book, Les Beletsky calls on 20 years experience of redwings to provide an up-to-date, comprehensive summary of all the major work done with these birds. These studies on the redwings' polygynous breeding system, strong territoriality, complex vocal communications, and broad distribution shed light on many themes of key interest to behaviorists and ecologists interested in the evolution of mate choice and species adaptations to habitats which vary in character in different parts of their range. An extra dimension is added in the consideration of redwings as pests, a widespread and often serious problem in crops of rice and corn. This book is written in an easy style, and will serve as an introduction, to both student and layperson, to redwings and what they can teach us of behavioral ecology. The Red-winged Blackbird provides the research worker with a balanced summary and comprehensive bibliography of one of ornithology's widest and deepest studies. Key Features * Covers perhaps the most studied bird in North America * Presents model species for studies in mating systems, habitat selection, vocal communication, and territorial behavior * Includes a comprehensive bibliography * Presented in an accessible style, ideal for student use

Polygyny and Sexual Selection in Red-Winged Blackbirds
Polygyny and Sexual Selection in Red-Winged Blackbirds

Author: William A. Searcy

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1400863937

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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.