Cooperative Breeding in Birds: Long Term Studies of Ecology and Behaviour [Hardcover]

This book details the major empirical studies of cooperative breeding birds and explores the diversity of ideas and controversies which have developed in this field.This volume brings together summaries of a wide variety of studies focusing on cooperative breeding among birds, an unusual and rare form of social behavior, in which individuals, other than the male-female pairs, help to raise the young of a single nest or den.This volume brings together summaries of a wide variety of studies focusing on cooperative breeding among birds, an unusual and rare form of social behavior, in which individuals, other than the male-female pairs, help to raise the young of a single nest or den.Stacey and Koenig discuss the phenomenon of cooperative breeding among birds, an unusual kind of social behavior common to only a few hundred species worldwide, in which individuals other than the male-female pairs help to raise the young of a single nest or den. Because certain individuals aid in raising offspring which are not their own, cooperative breeding gives rise to some of the clearest examples of altruism among animals. This unique breeding behavior is of interest to evolutionary biologists and behavioral ecologists since such species exhibit some of the most unusual and bizarre social behavior observed anywhere in the animal kingdom. The studies are all long term and consequently the book summarizes some of the most extensive studies of the behavior of marked individuals ever undertaken. Graduate students and research workers in ornithology, sociobiology, behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology will find much of value in this book.Frontispiece; Contributors; Introduction P. B. Stacey and W. D. Koenig; 1. Splendid Fairy-wrens: demonstrating the importance of longevity I. C. R. Rowley and E. Russell; 2. Green Woodhoopoes: life history traits and sociality J. D. Ligon and S. H. Ligon; 3. Red-cockaded Woodpeckers: a 'primitive' cooperative breeder J. R. Walters; 4. Arabian Babblƒ8