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A vivid, eye-opening view of why birds behave the way they do Birds are intelligent, sociable creatures that exhibit a wide array of behaviors-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, Understanding Bird Behavior 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 defense, 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 antipredator nest design. We also read about how birds change certain behaviors-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, Understanding Bird Behavior offers a close-up look at the many ways birds conduct themselves in the wild.--

Birds --- Natural history, --- History, Natural --- Natural science --- Physiophilosophy --- Biology --- Science --- Aves --- Avian fauna --- Avifauna --- Wild birds --- Amniotes --- Vertebrates --- Ornithology --- Behavior. --- Anatomy and physiology. --- Californian junco. --- Chatham Island robins. --- Egyptian vultures. --- New Caledonian crows. --- alternative mating strategies. --- anis. --- ant birds. --- bishops. --- black coucals. --- blackcap migration. --- bowerbird. --- brood divisions. --- buffalo weaver. --- burrow nests. --- caching. --- camouflaged eggs. --- carrion crows. --- chick mimicry. --- circadian rhythms. --- circannual rhythms. --- colored leg bands. --- communal larders. --- coot chicks. --- crested auklet. --- crossbills. --- crows. --- cuckoos. --- deception. --- delayed dispersal. --- eavesdropping. --- economics of feeding. --- egg and chick recognition. --- extra-pair copulations. --- fairywrens. --- female blue tits. --- flamingo. --- forced copulation. --- fork-tailed drongos. --- great tits. --- habitat specialization. --- heritable egg placement. --- hoatzins. --- house husbands. --- hummingbird battles. --- inbreeding avoidance. --- infanticide. --- kakapo. --- leks. --- long tails. --- long-tailed tits. --- male-male competition. --- mating systems. --- mental time travel. --- mixed flocks. --- mobbing. --- mutual mate choice. --- new world warblers. --- oxpeckers. --- parasitism. --- parrot communication. --- passerines. --- passwords. --- polygynous male pied flycatchers. --- quails. --- raptors. --- red collars. --- red-backed fairywren. --- red-winged blackbird. --- risk-taking behavior. --- sandgrouse feathers. --- selfish begging. --- sentinel behavior. --- sex differences in migration. --- siblicide. --- spatial memory. --- speciation. --- temperate birds. --- thermoregulation. --- tropical birds. --- turkey courting coalitions. --- widowbirds. --- willow ptarmigan. --- winter flocks.