Ecology and Behavior of Chickadees and Titmice

An Integrated Approach

Edited by Ken A. Otter

Contributions from the leading research teams involved with Parid research
Focuses on major research themes, including proximate mechanisms in behaviour and evolution, reproductive ecology and behaviour, communication and conservation
Compares and contrasts research findings on the Paridae of the New World with those on their Old World relatives (e.g. blue and great tits)
Highlights directions for future research and collaboration

Ecology and Behavior of Chickadees and Titmice

An Integrated Approach

Edited by Ken A. Otter

Description

Chickadees and titmice are among the most popular birds in North America, due in large part to their readiness to use bird feeders, to nest in urban gardens, and even to be trained to take food from people's hands. These attributes have also made them (and their Eurasian tit counterparts) perhaps the most intensively studied bird family in the world. Long-term research in Europe has yielded some of the most comprehensive data on the impact of global warming on the breeding ecology of birds. Chickadees have amongst the best-studied and most complex vocal behavior of any bird species, displaying one of the closest analogies to human sentence structure in the animal kingdom in their familiar chick-a-dee call. The social dominance hierarchies commonly witnessed in the form of squabbling at winter feeders are some of most stable and closely studied, and have huge impacts on controlling the lives of these small birds. Their food-storing behavior, and the brain and physiological mechanisms controlling this, has contributed significantly to our wider understanding of spatial orientation. In recent years, these birds have also been used as model species for investigating topics as diverse as inter-species hybridization, the impacts of forest fragmentation and complex systems of communication. In short, chickadees and titmice have contributed enormously to our understanding of a myriad of topics in ecology, behavior and psychology. This book brings together a range of experts from across North America who utilize chickadees or titmice as study organisms. Each chapter reviews the latest advances in evolution and behavioral research that have been accomplished through the study of North American Parids, and compares and contrasts this literature with research on their Eurasian counterparts as well as other avian families.

This research level text is aimed at professional avian biologists and ornithologists as well as graduate students of avian behavioral ecology and evolution. It will also appeal to a more general audience of behavioral ecologists, neuroethologists and experimental psychologists.

Ecology and Behavior of Chickadees and Titmice

An Integrated Approach

Edited by Ken A. Otter

Preface, Ken A. Otter
1. Introduction to the North American Paridae, Susan M. Smith
Proximate Mechanisms in Behavior and Evolution
2. Neurobiology and spatial behavior, David F. Sherry & Jennifer S. Hoshooley
3. The relationship between environment, corticosterone, food caching, spatial memory and the hippocampus in chickadees, Vladimir V. Pravosudov
4. Photoperiodism and the annual cycle of black-capped chickadees, Leslie S. Phillmore & Scott A. Macdougall-Shackleton
5. Fine-scale variation in the timing of reproduction in titmice and chickadees, Scott M. Ramsay & Ken A. Otter
Chapter Synopsis 1 Proximate mechanisms in behavior and evolution, David F. Sherry, Vladimir V. Pravosudov, Scott A. Macdougall-Shackleton, Jennifer S. Hoshooley & Leslie S. Phillmore
Reproductive Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
6. Phylogeography of chestnut-backed chickadees in western North America, Theresa M. Burg
7. Behavioral aspects of chickadee hybridization, Robert L. Curry, Mathew W. Reudink & Lindsay M. Rossano
8. Population density, nest site selection, and reproduction in Mountain Chickadees with changes in forest health and the Nest Web structure, Kathy Martin & Andrea R. Norris
9. Social dominance and fitness in black-capped chickadees, Laurene Ratcliffe, Daniel J. Mennill & Kristin A. Schubert
Chapter Synopsis 2 Parid reproductive behavior, Daniel J. Mennill, Theresa M. Burg, Robert L. Curry, Kathy Martin, Andrea R. Norris, Laurene Ratcliffe, Mathew W. Reudink, Lindsay M. Rossano & Kristin A. Schubert
Vocal Communication
10. Chickadee vocal production and perception: an integrative approach to understanding acoustic communication, Chris Sturdy, Laurie L. Bloomfield, Isabelle Charrier & Tiffany T-Y. Lee
11. The garglecall of black-capped chickadees: ontogeny, acoustic structure, population patterns, function, and processes leading to sharing of call characteristics, Myron C. Baker & David Gammon
12. How post-dispersal social environment may influence acoustic variation in birdsong, David Gammon
13. "Information" and the chick-a-dee call: communicating with a complex vocal system, Jeffrey Lucas & Todd Freeberg
14. Status signalling and communication networks in chickadees: complex communication with a simple song, Daniel J. Mennill & Ken A. Otter
Chapter Synopsis 3 Compexities in vocal communication, Todd M. Freeberg, Myron C. Baker, Laurie L. Bloomfield, Isabelle Charrier, David E. Gammon, Jack P. Hailman, Tiffany T-Y. Lee, Jeffrey R. Lucas, Daniel J. Mennill & Christopher B. Sturdy
Landscape Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation Issues
15. Edge, patch and landscape effects on parid distribution and movements, André Desrochers & Marc Bélisle
16. Winter adaptations in chickadees and titmice and the added effect of habitat fragmentation, Jennifer R. Olson & Thomas C. Grubb, Jr
17. Habitat quality and reproductive behavior in chickadees and tits: potential for habitat matrix use in forest generalists, Ken A. Otter, Harry van Oort & Kevin T. Fort
Chapter Synopsis 4 Landscape ecology, behavior, and conservation issues, André Desrochers, Ken A. Otter, Marc Bélisle, & Jennifer R. Olson
18. What drives differences between North American and Eurasian tit studies?

Ecology and Behavior of Chickadees and Titmice

An Integrated Approach

Edited by Ken A. Otter

Author Information

Ken A. Otter is Associate Professor in Biology at the University of Northern British Columbia

Contributors:

Myron C. Baker
Marc Bélisle
Laurie L. Bloomfield
Theresa M. Burg
Isabelle Charrier
Robert L. Curry
André Desrochers
André A. Dhondt
Kevin T. Fort
Todd Freeberg
Dave Gammon
Thomas C. Grubb Jr.
Jack P. Hailman
Jennifer Hoshooley
Tiffany T-Y. Lee
Jeffrey Lucas
Scott A. MacDougall-Shackleton
Kathy Martin
Daniel Mennill
Andrea R. Norris
Jennifer R. Olson
Ken A. Otter
Leslie S. Phillmore
Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Scott M. Ramsay
Laurene M. Ratcliffe
Mathew Reudink
Lindsay Rossano
Kristin A. Schubert
David F. Sherry
Susan Smith
Christopher B. Sturdy
Harry van Oort

Ecology and Behavior of Chickadees and Titmice

An Integrated Approach

Edited by Ken A. Otter

Reviews and Awards

"A useful, attractive book that will be a major reference on this bird family, and the insights gained from it will likely prove to be broadly applicable across many kinds of birds."--Great Plains Research

"It should be required reading for students and researchers interested in chickadee biology and for anyone more broadly interested in spatial representation, reproduction, bioacoustics and acoustic communication, and social dominance."--Ronold G. Weisman, The Quarterly Review of Biology