Overview

This book is the first to present a comprehensive overview of parasitic birds and their hosts. Although the phenomenon has attracted the interest of naturalists and evolutionists since Darwin, only recently have researchers applied modern evolutionary theory and experimental methods to study the various adaptations related to brood parasitism. The work in this field is accelerating rapidly, and this volume collects work from the individuals and research groups around the world who have been responsible for nearly every major study in the last ten years. The papers present valuable summaries along with substantial new research, and the volume concludes with a review of important unsolved questions. The book is an invaluable resource on this fascinating topic, covering the remarkable sequences of adaptations and counter-adaptations, along with the perhaps even more remarkable cases where adaptations seem to be lacking.

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9780195099768

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Reviews

The amount of work being done on parasitic birds in recent years has accelerated at an astounding rate. This book is the first one to present a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the diverse kinds of birds and interactions involved in avian brood parasitism. Written by an outstanding group of individuals and research groups around the world who have been responsible for nearly every major study in the last ten years, the chapters in this volume offer valuable summaries along with substantial new research. Broad ranging in scope, the book covers topics including coevolution between cuckoos and their hosts, coevolution between cowbirds and their hosts, models of parasite-host coevolution, effects of parasitism on host population dynamics, and the consequences of parasitism for mating systems. With all the emphasis on forest fragmentation and the influx of parasitism this is an important work for all serious students and interested naturalists. --Indiana Audubon Quarterly Rothstein and Robinson's text developed as a memorial volume to Herbert Friedmann (1900-1987). It is based on a symposium held in 1990 at the American Ornithologists' Union meeting in Los Angeles, but it has been enhanced with invited contributions. Although the volume had a long incubation, its contents are quite current. The editors' long (56 pages) and heavily referenced (462 citations) introductory chapter provides an overview of such subjects as taxonomic groups, adaptations of parasitic species, and adaptations to parasitism by hosts. They summarize current research in the co-evolutionary systems of parasites and hosts. The actual papers (41 authors are involved) emphasize cuckoo and cowbird studies . . . The editors close the collection with a chapter of unresolved questions. --Birding This is another excellent book from the Oxford Ornithology Series and one which provides a very comprehensive treatment of the evolutionary issues and data concerning avian brood parasiti

The amount of work being done on parasitic birds in recent years has accelerated at an astounding rate. This book is the first one to present a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the diverse kinds of birds and interactions involved in avian brood parasitism. Written by an outstanding group of individuals and research groups around the world who have been responsible for nearly every major study in the last ten years, the chapters in this volume offer valuable summaries along with substantial new research. Broad ranging in scope, the book covers topics including coevolution between cuckoos and their hosts, coevolution between cowbirds and their hosts, models of parasite-host coevolution, effects of parasitism on host population dynamics, and the consequences of parasitism for mating systems. With all the emphasis on forest fragmentation and the influx of parasitism this is an important work for all serious students and interested naturalists. --Indiana Audubon Quarterly<br> Rothstein and Robinson's text developed as a memorial volume to Herbert Friedmann (1900-1987). It is based on a symposium held in 1990 at the American Ornithologists' Union meeting in Los Angeles, but it has been enhanced with invited contributions. Although the volume had a long incubation, its contents are quite current. The editors' long (56 pages) and heavily referenced (462 citations) introductory chapter provides an overview of such subjects as taxonomic groups, adaptations of parasitic species, and adaptations to parasitism by hosts. They summarize current research in the co-evolutionary systems of parasites and hosts. The actual papers (41 authors are involved) emphasize cuckoo and cowbird studies. . . The editors close the collection with a chapter of unresolved questions. --Birding<br> This is another excellent book from the Oxford Ornithology Series and one which provides a very comprehensive treatment of the evolutionary issues and data concerning avian brood parasitism. The volume provides an extensive review of the literature, a detailed presentation of the theoretical arguments for host-parasite co-evolution and a wealth of relevant empirical information. As such, this book is the best review so far of this well-worked and fascinating subject area. It also introduces a certain amount of original work, together with constructive discussions of the remaining unresolved questions and future directions for research in this field. . . . Overall this is an excellent volume, introducing the reader to almost every aspect of avian brood parasitism and therefore represents a good starting for the postgraduate reader, although it may function best as a very complete reference work for those already familiar with the subject. --Ibis<br> In Parasitic Birds and their Hosts: Studies in Coevolution, Rothstein & Robinson have created a stimulating volume of recent work on a wide range of parasitic birds. The volume is the ninth in the Oxford Ornithology Series and contains the work of an eclectic international mix of scientists from five continents. The book focuses on field studies of cuckoos (three papers on European species, five on Japanese, Australian and New Zealand species) and of cowbirds (three papers on the brown-headed cowbird, three on the shiny cowbird, one of which also addresses the bay-winged cowbird). One section of the book addresses conspecific brood parasitism, andone section addresses prevailing models of host-parasite coevolution. To create a volume that is more than the sum of its parts, the editors have provided an introduction intended to make the book accessible to a reader with no background and a set of substantive essays that put each section of the book in context. --Animal Behaviour<br>

'...the first comprehensive review of the ecology of avian brood parasites...The book is well documented and should be a useful reference text.' ASLIB Book Guide, vol. 64, No. 5, May 1999

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