Into the Nest: Intimate Views of the Courting, Parenting, and Family Lives of Familiar Birds PDF
Preview Into the Nest: Intimate Views of the Courting, Parenting, and Family Lives of Familiar Birds
Contents Part One: The Facts of Bird Life Courting and Mating Enter the Egg Nesting and Parenting Part Two: The Family Lives of Selected Species Mallard Great Blue Heron Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle, and Turkey Vulture Killdeer Herring Gull Rock Pigeon and Mourning Dove Great Horned Owl Hummingbirds Woodpeckers Peregrine Falcon Phoebes Blue Jay American Crow Tree and Barn Swallows Chickadees and Nuthatches House Wren Bluebirds and Robins Northern Mockingbird Cedar Waxwing Yellow Warbler Chipping Sparrow Tanagers Northern Cardinal Blackbirds and Orioles American Goldfinch Appendix Glossary Acknowledgments Other Storey Titles You Will Enjoy Copyright Share Your Experience! P A R T O N E The Facts of Bird Life When parents teach their children the facts of life, they often refer to “the birds and the bees,” even though birds and bees have entirely different equipment than mammals do and few people have the slightest idea how birds or bees actually “do it.” This book aims to shed light on the family lives of birds, a topic that has captured our collective imagination and enriched our language despite being shrouded in mystery. Diverse Lifestyles Every species has its own approach to every aspect of reproduction: finding mates, claiming and defending territories (or not claiming one at all), finding or building a nest or other structure in which to deposit eggs, protecting and incubating those eggs (or finding another bird to do it in certain cases), and feeding, protecting, and “educating” the young. In some species, the reproductive process can last a few weeks from start to finish; in others, it lasts for longer than a year. The processes of bird reproduction are so intertwined that it’s difficult to separate them out. For example: A male House Wren’s territory and nest cavities are his primary ways to attract a mate. Herons include nest-building as part of courtship. Feeding a prospective mate during courtship helps prime an Evening Grosbeak to feed nestlings. Success or failure in rearing their young influences whether a pair of robins will stay together the following breeding season. This book focuses on the varying ways some familiar species conduct their family lives. Evolution provided each species with different strategies, but in every case the goal, to produce new birds to carry on the parents’ genes, is the same.
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