Review
"Useful tables and diagrams; chapter references; author and subject indexes. Recommended."--Choice
"Overall, the book is highly readable, the empirical data are succinctly presented in a uniform style which facilitates cross-species comparisons, and the long-term studies are truly impressive in their size and scope."--The Quarterly Review of Biology
"An impressive treatment, empirical and theoretical, of. . .issues related to avian monogamy. Fourteen fine chapters, based on long-term empirical studies of individual species in 12 different avian families, are sandwiched between opening and closing sections that deal with theoretical issues."--Science
"An impressive collection of theoretical and empirical studies that address the evolution of mate fidelity and divorce." --Ibis
Product Description
Some birds mate for life, while others have many partners. Why? In this book, fourteen classic studies of bird behaviour are brought together to compare the different partnership patterns from ecological and evolutionary perspectives. Often there is a battle of the sexes, as individual birds behave in the way that serves their best interests. Introductory and concluding chapters review the latest thinking on this fascinating subject.