Nesting season : cuckoos, cuckolds, and the invention of monogamy
Posted June 3, 2010 1:25 pm by Julie Black
(Photo credit: Per H. Olsen. Not featured in text. See licensing notice relating to image below.)
At this time of year, with birds nesting and chicks fledging all around us, and Springwatch (UK nature programme) back on television, you might be interested to find out more about why birds nest and rear their young in so many contrasting ways.
Look no further than “The nesting season : cuckoos, cuckolds, and the invention of monogamy” by the naturalist and biologist Bernd Heinrich, which gives a real insight into this spring time spectacle.
The book examines courtship, selection of nesting sites, how different species construct their nests and the parenting methods of birds. Issues covered range from how eggs get their colour to the evolution of the Cuckoo which specialises in choosing the best host species for its young.
Stunning water colours and a number of photographs by the author help to illustrate the variety, beauty and colour of the breeding season.
Comparing human relationships and monogamy with that of birds, Heinrich even gives us his thoughts on how our methods of bringing up children are changing in the twenty-first century.
You can find details of Nesting season on our catalogue.
Photo credit: Per H. Olsen. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. Subject to disclaimers.
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