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A Strategic Arms Race Among Birds

10,000 Birds

There are two patterns that are fairly extreme that fall into this category: brood parasitism and helper-at-the-nest strategy. In the former, a female lays her fertilized egg in the nest of another species, in the hopes that her offspring will be raised by the unwitting hosts. It turns out that the two strategies may be related.

Breeders 194
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Birding Nonggang, Guangxi, China – part 2

10,000 Birds

In China, wherever there is one real tourist attraction (like the Great Wall), the local strategy seems to be to add some fake attractions – replicas of palaces or tombs, amusement parks, shopping centers – in order to maximize the income from tourists. But the starting point has to be a real attraction, not a fake one.

China 216
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Rails: The Once and Future Kings of the Pacific

10,000 Birds

They often become slower breeders, and most importantly, they lose their ability to disperse, meaning they get stranded on the island they live on. In a few places mammals and humans may endure, but even there, rails will become island species, albeit ones that retain some anti-predator strategies.

Hawaii 196
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Polygynandry and avian swingers

10,000 Birds

Swarovski ATM scope & Canon A590 Now Alpine Accentors have a much more interesting strategy: 3-5 males defend a single breeding territory, containing 2-3 spatially separated female Accentors. to have and raise children. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes.

2011 202