article thumbnail

How Birds Evolve: What Science Reveals about Their Origin, Lives, and Diversity: A Book Review by a Non-Science Person

10,000 Birds

He also believes that we are living in an era of incredible scientific research, one in which new genetic technology and findings from diverse scientific disciplines have turned assumptions upside down, opened up new lines of thought, and provided answers, or at least probable answers, to many of our questions about why birds do the things they do.

Science 204
article thumbnail

Birding Yancheng, Jiangsu

10,000 Birds

In Daurian Redstarts , personality traits (specifically, whether a bird is shy or bold) partly determine how good an individual is in rejecting cuckoo eggs in its nest. Apparently, birds that are fast in exploring new things – bold birds – are better at rejecting parasitic eggs ( source ).

Birds 193
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

Birding Hongbenghe, Yunnan (Part 1)

10,000 Birds

This laughingthrush is a cooperative breeder – nestlings are fed by all members of a group, often 6-12 (not just 2 as in Wham!): “A female may share a nest with another, and 3 or more adults may take turns incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks.” ” ( source ).

Burma 189
article thumbnail

Bird Talk: An Exploration of Avian Communication–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Signaling theory comes up frequently in bird literature (one example I can think of off-hand is Nick Davies’ Cuckoo: Cheating by Nature, Bloomsbury, 2015), but if you’re not familiar with its basic ideas you must read the Introduction. I do wish there was more about research on female bird song. And, that’s it.

article thumbnail

The Bird Way: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

A logical and outstanding successor to The Genius of Birds (2016), Ackerman’s award-winning book about bird cognition, The Bird Way explores the diversity of bird behavior, the norm and the extremes, with an emphasis on cutting-edge research and findings that explode assumptions. It’s fascinating stuff.

Research 213
article thumbnail

Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History from Cave Art to Conservation–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology. Beagle , pt.

article thumbnail

Into the Nest: A Book Review in the Time of Nesting

10,000 Birds

And of eggs and nests and birds on nests. She does, and her narrative serves as a role model for how to write about birds simply and knowledgeably; informing birds’ family stories with scientific facts and research findings. Cedar Waxwings exchange berries, carry nesting material, eggs. And of birds courting and mating.

Eggs 263