Birds Of Paradox

The kea, a crow-sized parrot that lives in the rugged mountains of New Zealand, is considered by some a playful comic and by others a vicious killer. Its true character is a mystery that biologists have debated for more than a century. Judy Diamond and Alan Bond have written a comprehensive account of the kea's contradictory nature, and their conclusions cast new light on the origins of behavioral flexibility and the problem of species survival in human environments everywhere. New Zealand's geological remoteness has made the country home to a bizarre assemblage of plants and animals that are wholly unlike anything found elsewhere. Keas are native only to the South Island, breeding high in the rigorous, unforgiving environment of the Southern Alps. Bold, curious, and ingeniously destructive, keas have a complex social system that includes extensive play behavior. Like coyotes, crows, and humans, keas are "open-program" animals with an unusual ability to learn and to create new solutions to whatever problems they encounter. Diamond and Bond present the kea's story from historical and contemporary perspectives and include observations from their years of field work. A comparison of the kea's behavior and ecology with that of its closest relative, the kaka of New Zealand's lowland rain forests, yields insights into the origins of the kea's extraordinary adaptability. The authors conclude that the kea's high level of sociality is a key factor in the flexible lifestyle that probably evolved in response to the alpine habitat's unreliable food resources and has allowed the bird to survive the extermination of much of its original ecosystem. But adaptability has its limits, as the authors make clear when describing present-day interactions between keas and humans and the attempts to achieve a peaceful coexistence.

Nesting along the sandy fringe of the North American coast from Maine to Florida, terns are graceful symbols of our coastal beaches, yet they lead fragile and frantic lives. Join educator, storyteller, and photographer Peter Trull as he describes the physical and behavioral differences among the four types of terns that nest in the Cape Cod area, their migratory habits and predators, and why they are called birds of paradox. Both a photographic journey and an ornithological diary, Trull describes his ten-plus years watching, recording, and photographing these birds from Massachusetts to the coast of Guyana. More than 100 photographs depict day-to-day life and never-before-seen behaviors from inside the dynamic, noisy nesting colonies. This engaging book offers momentary glimpses into the complexities of these erratic, agile seabirds--seemingly carefree but always on the hunt--and their struggle to survive.

Descriptive interpretation of northwest coast Indian art as represented by this collection of several previously unpublished works of Wilson Duff. The tragic death of Wilson Duff at the age of 51, cut short the life of one of the leading experts on the arts and culture of Native peoples of the Northwest Coast. An anthropology professor at the University of B.C, his death, by his own hand, terminated his uncommonly perceptive research into the philosophy and psychology of Native art. Bird of Paradox consists of unpublished works by Duff which present his unique theoretical ideas that contribute to art scholarship, as well as creative writings and poetry which expose his emotional experiences with and feelings toward Native art and culture. Editor E. N. Anderson has provided detailed introductory material recounting Duff's life and work, and puts Duff's final contributions in the context of Northwest Coast life.

This book provides syntheses of ecological theories and overarching patterns of urban bird ecology that have only recently become available. The numerous habitats represented in this book ranges from rows of trees in wooded alleys, to wastelands and remnants of natural habitats encapsulated in the urban matrix. Authored by leading scientists in this emergent field, the chapters explore how the characteristics of the habitat in urban environments influence bird communities and populations at multiple levels of ecological organization and at different spatial and temporal scales, and how this information should be incorporated in urban planning to achieve an effective conservation of bird fauna in urban environments. Birds are among the most conspicuous and fascinating residents of urban neighborhoods and provide urban citizens with everyday wildlife contact all over the world. However, present urbanization trends are rapidly depleting their habitats, and thus knowledge of urban bird ecology is urgently needed if birds are to thrive in cities. The book is unique in its inclusion of examples from all continents (except Antarctica) in an effort to arrive at a more holistic perspective. Among other issues, the individual chapters address the censusing of birds in urban green spaces; the relationship between bird communities and the structure of urban green spaces; the role of exotic plant species as food sources for urban bird fauna; the influence of artificial light and pollutants on bird fauna; trends in long-term urban bird research, and transdisciplinary studies on bird sounds and their effects on humans. Several chapters investigate how our current knowledge of the ecology of urban bird fauna should be applied in order to achieve better management of urban habitats so as to achieve conservation of species or even increase species diversity. The book also provides a forward-looking summary on potential research directions. As such, it provides a valuable resource for urban ecologists, urban ecology students, landscape architects, city planners, decision makers and anyone with an interest in urban ornithology and bird conservation. Moreover, it provides a comprehensive overview for researchers in the fields of ecology and conservation of urban bird fauna.

This volume is subtitled "Alternatives" because we wanted to devote at least a part of it to the alternative ways in which members of the same species behave in a given situation. Not so very long ago the supposition among many ethologists was that if one animal behaved in a particular way, then all other members of the same age and sex would do the same. Any differences in the ethogram between individuals were to be attributed to "normal biological variation. " Such thinking is less common nowadays after the discovery of dramatic differences between members of the same species which are of the same age and sex. Alternative modes of behavior, though now familiar, raise particularly interesting questions about current function, evolutionary history, and mechanism. Do the differences rep resent equally satisfactory solutions to a given problem? Are some of the solutions the best that those animals can do, given their body size and general condition? Is an alternative solution adopted because so many other individuals have taken the first? If so, do the frequencies reached at equilibrium depend on differential survival of genetically distinct types or do they result from decisions taken by individual animals? If the alternatives are induced during development, as are the castes of social insects, what is required for such triggering? The questions about alternative ways of behaving are addressed in some of the chapters in this volume.