Avian Breeding Cycles

This book provides detailed coverage of the many mechanisms birds have evolved to cope with seasonal variations in the availability of resources. Readers will find discussion of the hypophysial and other endocrine systems, the role of hormones in reproductive behavior, energy budgets in relation to reproduction, egg and clutch size, breeding seasons, circadian and ultradian rhythms and their control, sexual selection, and the pair bond. Factors which influence avian survival rates are distinguished from the processes of population dynamics, and some constraints on evolutionary change are considered.