How Birds Behave: Interpreting What They Do and Why

(Hardback)

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Birds are intelligent, sociable creatures that exhibit a wide array of behaviours from mobbing and mimicking to mating and joint nesting. Why do they behave as they do Bringing to light the remarkable actions of birds through examples from species around the world, How Birds Behave presents engaging vignettes about the private lives of birds, all explained in an evolutionary context.

We discover how birds find food, relying on foraging techniques, tools and thievery. We learn about the courtship rituals through which birds choose, compete for, woo and win mates; the familial conflicts that crop up among parents, offspring and siblings; and the stresses and strains of nesting, including territory defence, nepotism and relationship sabotage. We see how birds respond to threats and danger through such unique practices as murmurations, specific alarm calls, distraction displays and anti-predator nest design. We also read about how birds change certain behaviours preening, migration, breeding and huddling based on climate. Richly illustrated, this book explores the increasing focus on how individual birds differ in personality and how big data and citizen scientists are helping to add to what we know about them.

Drawing on classic examples and the latest research, How Birds Behave offers a close-up look at the many ways birds conduct themselves in the wild.

Reviews

"An enjoyable, attractive, instructive, and stimulating read for anyone interested in the biology and behaviour of wild birds in the field." -- Clifford B Frith * Australian Field Ornithology 37 *
How Birds Behave seems to cover just about everything known about why birds do the things that they do, all within 215 pages. Each turn of the page also reveals beautiful photos and water colour paintings of birds from around the world that help illustrate the behaviours being discussed." -- Steve Lofthouse * WA Naturalists Club *