Lovette Irby J. - Handbook of Bird Biology

1. Chapter 04

1. Chapter 01
2. Chapter 02
3. Chapter 03
4. Chapter 04
5. Chapter 05
6. Chapter 06
7. Chapter 07
8. Chapter 08
9. Chapter 09
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15

THIRD EDITION

EDITED BY

Irby J. Lovette
John W. Fitzpatrick

Editorial Team

Rebecca M. Brunner, Developmental Editor
Alexandra Class Freeman, Art Program Editor
Myrah A. Bridwell, Permissions Editor
Mya E. Thompson, Online Content Director

This third edition first published 2016 2016, 2004, 1972 by Cornell University

Edition history: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (1e, 1972); Princeton University Press (2e, 2004)

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Lovette, Irby, editor. | Cornell University. Laboratory of Ornithology.
Title: Cornell Lab of Ornithology's handbook of bird biology.
Other titles: Handbook of bird biology.
Description: Third edition / edited by Irby Lovette and John W. Fitzpatrick. | Chichester, West Sussex : John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016003727 (print) | LCCN 2016007271 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118291054 (cloth) | ISBN 9781118291047 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118291023 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Ornithology. | Birds.

Classification: LCC QL673 .H263 2016 (print) | LCC QL673 (ebook) | DDC 598dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016003727

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.Cover image: Displaying male Greater BirdofParadise (Paradisaea apoda). Photograph by Tim Laman Tim Laman.

Advising Science Editors
Walter D. Koenig
Kevin J. McGowan
David W. Winkler

Developmental Editor
Rebecca M. Brunner

Art Program Editor
Alexandra Class Freeman

Permissions Editor
Myrah A. Bridwell

Online Content Director
Mya E. Thompson

Elizabeth AdkinsRegan
Cornell University

John Alcock
Arizona State University

Kimberly Bostwick
Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates

Bruce E. Byers
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Howard E. Evans
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

John W. Fitzpatrick
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Russell S. Greenberg
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

Walter D. Koenig
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Donald E. Kroodsma
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Irby J. Lovette
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Scott McWilliams
University of Rhode Island

Theunis Piersma
University of Groningen

Amanda D. Rodewald
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Judy ShamounBaranes
University of Amsterdam

Thomas W. Sherry
Tulane University

Bret W. Tobalske
University of Montana

Carol Vleck
Iowa State University

David W. Winkler
Cornell University

At this very moment, somewhere on earth, the sun is rising and a dawn chorus of birdsong welcomes the new day. This neverending avian symphony has been performed nonstop for millions of years, yet our scientific understanding of avian biology still improves with every passing year. This third edition of the Handbook of Bird Biology is intended as a current and helpful guide into the spectacular richness of bird diversity and the wonderful and varied ways that birds look, behave, display, function, and evolve.

The third edition of the Handbook extends a tradition that began in 1972 when the Cornell Lab of Ornithology first offered a Home Study Course in Ornithology to the general public. That early correspondence course comprised nine seminars on different topics, all written by the Cornell Labs Director at the time, Dr. Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr, an ornithologist known for helping connect recreational birdwatchers with scientific advances in avian biology. The first Home Study Course students received nine units of mimeographed sheets sent through the mail. Over the subsequent two decades, the materials increased in length and sophistication as the Home Study Course evolved and expanded. More than 10,000 students successfully passed their mailedin exams and completed the course.

This material was expanded and modernized as it was incorporated into the 2004 second edition of the Handbook, which was produced as an impressively hefty singlevolume book copublished by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Princeton University Press. It became a multiauthored endeavor with 11 chapters written by experts in their respective fields, each of whom lent their own personal style to explaining why birds look, act, and function in the ways that they do. The second edition remained the foundation of the continuing Home Study Course, used by an additional 5000 students from 65 countries. The book was likewise adopted as a textbook for many collegelevel ornithology courses and enjoyed as a general reference by many individuals interested in learning more about birds, even outside of any formal or informal coursework.