This book gathers an up to date series of works on different complementary aspects of population biology of passerine birds such as population dynamics, genetics, physiology and behavior.

Klappentext

Population Biology of Passerine Birds is an up-to-date synthesis of the most recent developments in its field, especially in the framework of modern life history theories. Major topics include quantitative genetics, ecological physiology, the study of social structures using individually marked birds in the wild, and finally biometry, which allows to quantify such important parameters as survival at different stages of life and to create a model of the overall demography of the populations.

Inhalt
Presidential Address.- The breeding time of the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca.- Reproductive Biology and Population Regulation.- Comparative reproductive biology of four Blue Tit populations in the Netherlands.- Population dynamics and regulation of a high density Blue Tit population.- Breeding patterns of the Coal Tit Parus ater and the Great Tit Parus major in Pine stands in Portugal.- Long-term study of a northern population of the Blue Tit Parus caeruleus.- Breeding time and breeding performance of the Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) in two Mediterranean habitats.- Modelling density dependence, environmental variability and demographic stochasticity from population counts: an example using Wytham wood Great Tits.- Variable cone crops, migration, and dynamics of a population of Mountain Chickadees (Parus gambeli).- The timing of breeding and clutch size of Blue Tits (Parus caeruleus) in two montane habitats in Algeria.- Factors affecting clutch-size in Great and Blue Tits.- Is adult survival of the Blue Tit higher in a low fecundity insular population than in a high fecundity mainland one.- Two Mediterranean Blue Tit populations: are differences in the timing of breeding associated with caterpillar availability.- Variation in morphology, laying date and clutch size between non-Mediterranean and Mediterranean Blue Tits.- Between-Individual Variation within Populations.- The variable niche hypothesis revisited. An analysis of intra- and interspecific differences in bill variation in Parus.- Temporal and spatial variation in food availability and its effects on fledgling size in the Great Tit.- On the effects of small scale variation in temperature and food availability on laying date and egg size in Great Tits (Parus major).- The estimation of local immature survival rate and of age-specific proportions of breeders in bird populations.- The effects of forest damage on caterpillars and their effect on the breeding biology of the Great Tit, an overview.- Genetic parasitism in the European Starling.- Costs and Benefits of Reproduction.- Life-history trade-offs and optimal clutch size in relation to age in the Collared Flycatcher.- Egg size investments of tits; does number conflict with size.- Manipulation of the brood size of Pied Flycatchers.- Fitness effects of parasites on passerine birds: A review.- The cost of reproduction in birds: Evaluating the evidence from manipulative and non-manipulative studies.- Effects of brood size manipulations on adult and juvenile survival and future fecundity in the Willow Tit Parus montanus.- Costs and benefits of reproduction of the Collared Flycatcher, Ficedula albicollis.- Behavioural Aspects of Reproduction.- Polygyny and breeding success of Pied Flycatchers nesting in natural cavities.- Polygyny and nest predation in the Rock Pipit. Do females trade male assistance against safety.- Incubation patterns of Blue Tits (Parus caeruleus).- Helping at the nest in European Bee-eaters: who helps and why.- What determines the timing and order of nest-leaving in the Marsh Tit Parus palustris.- Tactics and counter-tactics of sexually selected infanticide in Tree Swallows.- Brood defence in Great Tit (Parus major) pairs and the concorde fallacy.- Recruitment, Floaters, Immigrants.- Social organization of winter flocks of Willow Tits Parus montanus in a Norwegian subalpine birch forest.- Winter floaters in Willow Tits Parus montanus a matter of choice or making the best of a bad situation.- Differences in recruitment of young by immigrant and resident Great Tits in Wytham wood.- Return rates of male PiedFlycatchers: an experimental study manipulating breeding success.- Winter replacement rates of high-ranked Chickadees vary with floater density.- How does translocation affect the subsequent distribution of breeding pairs in a population of Pied Flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca).- Conclusions.- Concluding remarks: Dispersal and gene flow.- Concluding remarks: Understanding populations.