Presents a study on the evolution of sexual selection in birds as addressed through a research program by an ornithologist. This book also gives a portrait of the challenges and constraints of experimental design facing any field investigator working with animal behaviour.

Biologist Bridget Stutchbury takes readers along on her escapades as a bird detective, stalking subjects through the woods for hours, taking blood samples from nestlings for DNA analysis, and mounting miniature tracking devices on tiny backs. She captures several young white-and-brown male purple martins and paints them the darker color of mature males to see if the painted youngsters are more successful than their unaltered peers in wresting away nest sites from older males. They are! The Private Lives of Birds is a treasure trove of fascinating insights into bird behavior. But understanding the social lives of birds does much more than slake our curiosity. Aware that many birds will not occupy an area unless other birds are already there, biologists used mirrors and two-dimensional cutouts to lure Atlantic puffins to establish colonies off the coast of Maine, getting curious puffins to visit the site and linger long enough to encounter a live bird. As Stutchbury says, "Trying to save birds without understanding what makes them tick is a shot in the dark ... birds are highly social, and their social needs are at least as important as their physical needs."

There has been a recent upsurge of red-legged partridge research in most countries where the species is distributed, but no comprehensive review of that fresh and relevant multidisciplinary and international knowledge is available. In fact, this is probably the first scientific book on this important species, apart from Dick Potts’ excellent works on British-introduced population, or ONCFS’s (Office Nationale de la Chasse et le Faune Sauvage, France) older technical reports. This is in strong contrast with a plethora of literature in hunting magazines or non-academic books, not often precise, realistic, or well informed. Thus, the book fills a great bibliography gap that could have important social impact. The common thread of the book is the prominent role a species like this may play for research, from basic physiological or ecological knowledge to socio-economics of hunting and the rural world. The general framework of the book [I1] is the important role that hunting and game management may play in both rural economies and biodiversity conservation, with the partridge as flag species, and also in identifying the “dark drift” that industrial, incorrectly deployed management, or hunting vision may have on both sustainability of resources and nature conservation at large. The final aim of the book is identifying the best future scenario, both for partridge hunters and managers as well as the general public.

Winner of the Consul Cremer Prize, The Red Canary follows the compelling quest to turn the green canary red. The creation of Dolly the sheep in the 1990s was for many people the start of a new era: the age of genetically modified animals. However, the idea was not new, for in the 1920s an amateur scientist, Hans Duncker, decided to genetically engineer a red canary. Favored originally for their voice, by the middle of the nineteenth century canaries had become so popular that millions were exported from Europe to the United States to satisfy demand. During the 1870s, English canary breeders caused a scandal by feeding their birds red peppers to turn them orange. In the 1930s, Duncker's genetics efforts caught the attention of the Nazi regime who saw him as a champion of their eugenic policies, even though his ingenious experiments were not successful. Nonetheless, Duncker's work paved the way thirty years later for an Englishman, Anthony Gill, and an American, Charles Bennett, to succeed, after recognizing that the red canary would need to be a product of both nature and nurture. In Tim Birkhead's masterful hands, this highly original narrative reveals how the obsession of bird keepers turned the wild canary from green to red, and in the process, heralded exciting but controversial developments in genetic manipulation.

How birds produce the brilliant and striking coloration of their feathers and other body parts is the focus of this volume. Hill and McGraw have assembled the world's leading experts in perception, measurement, and control of bird coloration to contribute to this book, which synthesizes more than 1,500 technical papers in this field.

Urbanization is next to global warming the largest threat to biodiversity. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly evident that many bird species get locally extinct as a result of urban development. However, many bird species benefit from urbanization, especially through the abundance of human-provided resources, and increase in abundance and densities. These birds are intriguing to study in relation to its resilience and adaption to urban environments, but also in relation to its susceptibility and the potential costs of urban life. This Research Topic consisting of 30 articles (one review, two meta-analyzes and 27 original data papers) provides insights into species and population responses to urbanization through diverse lenses, including biogeography, community ecology, behaviour, life history evolution, and physiology.

The second part of volume 6 discusses sexual selection of ultraviolet and structural signals; melanins and carotenoids as feather colorants and signals; sexual selection and auditory signaling; odors and chemical signaling; sexual dimorphism; sexual selection, signal selection and the handicap principle; courtship and copulation; sexual conflict an

Ornithology is the classic text for the undergraduate ornithology course, long admired for its evolutionary approach to bird science. The new edition maintains the scope and expertise that made the book so popular while incorporating the latest research and updating the exquisite program of drawings.

THE PAPER BAG PRINCESS MCQ (MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS) SERVES AS A VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR INDIVIDUALS AIMING TO DEEPEN THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF VARIOUS COMPETITIVE EXAMS, CLASS TESTS, QUIZ COMPETITIONS, AND SIMILAR ASSESSMENTS. WITH ITS EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF MCQS, THIS BOOK EMPOWERS YOU TO ASSESS YOUR GRASP OF THE SUBJECT MATTER AND YOUR PROFICIENCY LEVEL. BY ENGAGING WITH THESE MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS, YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUBJECT, IDENTIFY AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT, AND LAY A SOLID FOUNDATION. DIVE INTO THE PAPER BAG PRINCESS MCQ TO EXPAND YOUR THE PAPER BAG PRINCESS KNOWLEDGE AND EXCEL IN QUIZ COMPETITIONS, ACADEMIC STUDIES, OR PROFESSIONAL ENDEAVORS. THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS ARE PROVIDED AT THE END OF EACH PAGE, MAKING IT EASY FOR PARTICIPANTS TO VERIFY THEIR ANSWERS AND PREPARE EFFECTIVELY.

Carotenoids: Carotenoid and Apocarotenoid Analysis, Volume 670, the latest release in the Methods in Enzymology series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume covering Getting to know carotenoids, Laser capture of tissues for micro-scale carotenoid analyses, Metabolic engineering of carotenoids: procedures for metabolomic characterization, LC-MS analysis of intracellular metabolites for precursors to the carotenoid pathway, Use of E. coli to produce carotenoid standards, HPLC analysis of carotenoids from Bacteria, Purification and development of standards for carotenoid quantification in plant tissues, and much more. Additional sections in this release cover Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Plant Apocarotenoids, Detection and analysis of novel and known volatile plant apocarotenoids, Carotenoid extraction, detection, and analysis in citrus, Strategies For The Separation And Tentative Identification Of Geometrical (Cis/Trans, Z/E) Isomers Of Carotenoids, Use of stable isotopes to study bioconversion and bioefficacy of pro-vitamin A carotenoids, Carotenoid extraction and analysis of blood plasma/serum, and more. - Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors - Presents the latest release in the Methods in Enzymology series - Includes the latest information on Carotenoids: Carotenoid and Apocarotenoid Analysis