Bird Song
Biological Themes and Variations
2nd Edition
Published on 22. May 2008
Book
Hardback
348 pages
978-0-521-87242-3 (ISBN)
Description
Bird song is one of the most remarkable and impressive sounds in the natural world, and has inspired not only students of natural history, but also great writers, poets and composers. Extensively updated from the first edition, the main thrust of this book is to suggest that the two main functions of song are attracting a mate and defending territory. It shows how this evolutionary pressure has led to the amazing variety and complexity we see in the songs of different species throughout the world. Writing primarily for students and researchers in animal behavior, the authors review over 1000 scientific papers and reveal how scientists are beginning to unravel and understand how and why birds communicate with the elaborate vocalizations we call song. Highly illustrated throughout and written in straightforward language, Bird Song also holds appeal for amateur ornithologists with some knowledge of biology.
Reviews / Votes
'... the well-known authors and experts, Professor C. K. Catchpole and Professor P. J. B. Slater thoroughly achieve their stated aims in this excellent book ... having read it avidly from cover to cover, I think it is an excellent read ... if ... you are at all interested in why and how birds vocalise, go out and buy this book.' Wildlife SoundMore details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
5 Tables, unspecified; 6 Halftones, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 260 mm
Width: 183 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
850 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-87242-3 (9780521872423)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2008
2nd Edition
Cambridge University Press
€35.49
Available for download
Previous edition
Book
10/2003
Cambridge University Press
€37.13
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
C. K. Catchpole is currently Professor of Animal Behaviour at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has written, broadcast and researched on many aspects of bird ecology and behaviour for more than thirty years and published over 100 books, articles and scientific papers. He has studied birds in many parts of the world and has been a visiting researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology in Germany and the California Academy of Sciences in the USA. P. J. B. Slater is Kennedy Professor of Natural History at the University of St Andrews. He is a former Editor of Animal Behaviour and of Advances in the Study of Behavior, and is a Past President of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, which awarded him its medal in 1999. In 1991 he was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is the author of around 150 scientific papers and several books, and has been studying acoustic communication, largely in birds, for thirty years.
Content
1. The study of bird song; 2. Production and perception; 3. How song develops; 4. Getting the message across; 5. When do birds sing?; 6. Recognition and territorial defence; 7. Sexual selection and female choice; 8. Themes and variations; 9. Variation in time and space.