Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Birds

Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Birds, Second Edition provides the most updated and comprehensive review on the evolution of behavior in tropical landbirds. The book reviews gaps in our knowledge that were identified twenty years ago when the first edition was published, highlights recent discoveries that have filled those gaps, and identifies new areas in urgent need of study. It covers key topics, including timing of breeding, movement ecology, life history traits, slow vs. fast pace of life, mating systems, mate choice, territoriality, communication, biotic interactions, and conservation. Written by international experts on the behavior of tropical birds, the book explores why the tropics is a unique natural laboratory to study the evolution of bird behavior and why temperate zone species are so different. A recent surge of studies on tropical birds has helped to reduce the temperate zone bias that arose because most avian model species in behavioral ecology were adapted to northern temperate climates. This is an important resource for researchers, ecologists and conservationists who want to understand the rich and complex evolutionary history of avian behavior. - Includes examples from around the world - Provides a historical perspective on new knowledge in the past 20 years - Identifies knowledge gaps that have been filled, along with new gaps that have emerged - Explores how avian behavior in the tropics is related to conservation

Bridget Stutchbury is a Distinguished Research Professor of Biology at York University in Toronto, Canada. She is an internationally recognized expert on songbird behavior, migration, and conservation. She and her graduate students have studied mating systems, communication, and territory defense in a range of resident passerines in Panama, as well as the non-breeding ecology of migrants in Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica. She has also published numerous papers on the behavioral ecology of temperate-breeding passerines and she pioneered the use of light-level geolocators to track start-to-finish long distance migration of small birds. Dr. Stutchbury is the recipient of numerous research awards, including a Canada Research Chair award, the Margaret Morse Nice Award for lifetime achievement from the Wilson Ornithological Society, the Elliott Coues Award for outstanding and innovative contributions to ornithological research from the American Ornithological Society, and the Jamie Smith Memorial Mentoring Award from the Society of Canadian Ornithology.