Böcker i Current Ornithology-serien

Presents reviews of topics selected from the range of research in avian biology. This title includes topics that cover the spectrum from the molecular level of organization to population biology and community ecology.

Geologists and other earth scientists have a use for summary statistics of large data bases, knowledge of frequency distributions, understanding of sampling designs and problems, and ap plication of stochastic models, but in general they are unaware of the many aspects of help available through the statistician.

This is the only English-language publication devoted exclusively to extensive reviews and synthesis of topics on the biology of birds. The current volume includes articles on sibling competition, predation and the limitation of bird numbers, and population trends in birds of eastern North America.

Contributors to this volume offer new research on extinction processes in birds, nest predation, and song systems, and describes a graphical model that helps predict the reproductive consequences of time allocation between the competing demands of guarding young birds and foraging for food.

Social Cognition: Are Primates Smarter than Birds?; P. Marler. Predicting Cognitive Capacity from Natural History: Examples from Four Corvid Species; R.P. Balda, et al. Assessing Body Condition in Birds; M.E. Brown. Avian Chemical Defense; J.P. Dumbacher, S. Pruett-Jones. Past and Current Attempts to Evaluate the Role of Birds as Predators of Insect Pests in Temperate Agriculture; D.A. Kirk, et al. An Evolutionary Approach to Offspring Desertion in Birds; T. Széleky, et al. Index.

In Volume 12, eminent international ornithologists further elucidate endocrinological correlates of mating strategies and hormones and reproductive behavior; assess the value of the ''brood reduction hypothesis'' in explaining ''the paradox of hatching asynchrony''; and explore the validity and sensitivity of growth bands in feathers as an indication of nutritional condition and the use of feather banding in studying growth. Chapters are well supported with charts, maps, schematic diagrams, and photographs. Current Ornithology is the only English-language publication currently devoted exclusively to extensive reviews and synthesis of topics pertaining to all aspects of the biology of birds. Chapters fall under such diverse rubrics as ecology, evolution, behavior, phylogeny, behavioral ecology, anatomy and physiology, and conservation biology. All authors are leading authorities on their subjects, and each chapter is refereed by experts in the topics covered. Although all chapters focus primarily on birds, some topics, such as the social cognition of birds as compared to primates (Volume 13), have significant application to disciplines outside of ornithology. Current Ornithology aims to provide an accessible, up-to-date, accurate source of data and to contribute to conceptual generalization and unification across the biological sciences.