Ecology and Evolution of Acoustic Communication in Birds

Twenty-five invited papers reviewing the contributing ornithologists' current research in birds' acoustic communication with an ecological and evolutionary focus, and also identifying the areas they feel will dominate future research efforts. The discussions center around the areas of vocal development, vocal repertoires, vocal variation in time and space, the control and recognition of vocalizations, and the behavior of communicating. The specific topics are anything but boring and include such diverse offerings as bird communication in a noisy world, how birds develop their songs, and the use of interactive playback to understand bird behavior. An appendix is provided that describes where and how to archive recordings. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.