Waubonsee Community College

Ten thousand birds, ornithology since Darwin, Tim Birkhead, Jo Wimpenny, Bob Montgomerie

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 467-496) and index

illustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

Ten thousand birds

bibliography

863172380

Tim Birkhead, Jo Wimpenny, Bob Montgomerie

ornithology since Darwin

This beautifully illustrated book opens in the middle of the nineteenth century when ornithology was a museum-based discipline focused almost exclusively on the anatomy, taxonomy, and classification of dead birds. It describes how in the early 1900s pioneering individuals such as Erwin Stresemann, Ernst Mayr, and Julian Huxley recognized the importance of studying live birds in the field, and how this shift thrust ornithology into the mainstream of the biological sciences. The book tells the stories of eccentrics like Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, a pathological liar who stole specimens from museums and quite likely murdered his wife, and describes the breathtaking insights and discoveries of ambitious and influential figures such as David Lack, Niko Tinbergen, Robert MacArthur, and others who through their studies of birds transformed entire fields of biology

Yesterday's birds -- The origin and diversification of species -- Birds on the tree of life -- Ebb and flow -- Ecological adaptations for breeding -- Form and function -- The study of instinct -- Behavior as adaptation -- Selection in relation to sex -- Population studies of birds -- Tomorrow's birds -- Afterword -- Appendix 1. Some histories of ornithology -- Appendix 2. Five hundred ornithologists