The Thing with Feathers (34 page)

Read The Thing with Feathers Online

Authors: Noah Strycker

cooperative nesting among unrelated birds,
228
,
234
–36
fledgling success,
234
–35
generous nature,
242
–43
group living,
239
–40
number of species,
223
purple-crowned fairy-wren,
223
,
224
,
227
,
228
,
234
,
239
–40
self-interest in cooperative nesting,
231
,
234
,
236
superb fairy-wren,
234
–36,
252
falcons,
76
–77,
94
Falkland steamer-ducks,
260
fast pace of life,
102
,
103
.
See also
hummingbirds
favorite-foods exercise,
155
–56,
157
–58
fear
brain functions involved,
118
,
120
–21
as evolutionary survival benefit,
119
fearlessness in absence of predators,
83
–84,
112
–14
fight-or-flight response,
117
–18,
121
flight distance,
113
–14,
121
,
122
as learned behavior,
114
,
119
–20,
122
–23
low- and high-road responses,
121
–22
tend-and-befriend response,
118
See also
penguins
fiery-throated hummingbirds,
98
,
99
flamingos,
253
flock behavior
Boids computer model,
34
–35
emergence and Game of Life exercise,
31
–33
Hawk-Eye stereo photography analysis,
36
–39
pigeons,
21
,
42
self-organizing systems,
31
StarFLAG project analysis,
44
–48
See also
starlings
Florida scrub jays,
224
Foer, Joshua,
171
Gage, Phineas,
201
Galápagos Islands,
112
–13
Gallup, Gordon, Jr.,
123
,
197
–200,
202
Game of Life exercise,
32
–33
game theory and prisoner’s dilemma strategy,
228
–31,
236
Giardina, Irene,
37
–38
Goldstein, Jeffrey,
31
–32
gray-headed albatrosses,
247
great bowerbirds
aesthetic sense,
210
–12,
215
–16
bower design,
205
,
207
,
208
,
214
great crested flycatchers,
212
groove-billed anis,
224
gulls,
253
Hagen, Walter,
103
Haldane, J. B. S.,
227
–28
Hawk-Eye video replay system,
36
–37
heart rate and heartbeats per lifetime,
96
,
101
–2,
103
Heisenberg model of magnetic orientation,
47
–48
helpful behavior.
See
cooperative behavior; fairy-wrens
hierarchy.
See
chickens; pecking order
homing
magnetic-field sensitivity,
17
–18
Manx shearwaters,
7
–9
multiple orientation methods,
12
pets and wild animals,
9
–10
right-eye function,
17
speculative explanations of,
11
–12
sun- and star-based navigation,
16
–17
white-crowned sparrows,
10
–11
See also
pigeons
How the Mind Works
(Pinker),
140
–41
hummingbirds
aggressive behavior,
91
–92,
97
–100
agility,
94
–95
beak flexibility,
98
–99
bee hummingbird,
93
brain size,
93
broad-tailed hummingbird,
94
energy expenditure and calorie consumption,
95
–96
evolutionary origin,
102
–3
fiery-throated hummingbird,
98
,
99
heart rate and heartbeats per lifetime,
96
,
101
,
103
leg weakness,
99
,
103
life expectancy,
94
,
103
migratory ranges,
93
as model for military drone,
95
predators,
93
–94
ruby-throated hummingbird,
93
rufous hummingbird,
93
,
99
–100
rufous-tailed hummingbird,
91
–92
size,
93
sleep,
97
solitary nature,
99
,
103
,
251
image recognition.
See
magpies; self-awareness
intelligence
bowerbirds,
218
–19
chickens,
154
corvids,
192
,
218
hummingbirds,
93
magpies,
189
–90,
192
,
195
,
201
nutcrackers,
167
pigeons,
19
–20,
25
,
153
self-awareness and,
189
–90
tracking of transitive relationships and,
153
–54
vocal mimicry and,
218
irruptions,
78
–79.
See also
snowy owls
Jones, Liz,
91
king penguins,
253
Landau, H. G.,
156
–57
language
cognitive interrelationship with music and motor skills,
130
,
137
–38
cooperative behavior in evolution of,
238
music as evolutionary by-product of,
140
–42
Laysan albatrosses,
247
–48
Lee, Won Young,
192
–93
Lewis and Clark expedition,
165
,
166
–67
Lewis’s woodpecker,
166
Life of Birds, The
(Attenborough documentary),
51
Lockley, Ronald,
7
–9
long-tailed manakin,
134
love
brain response,
249
as evolutionary survival mechanism,
249
–50,
263
human divorce rate,
254
long-term relationships,
249
–50
monogamy and promiscuity,
251
–53
separation among monogamous birds,
253
–54
similarity of partners,
250
See also
albatrosses
MacGregor’s bowerbirds,
218
“Magical Number of Seven, Plus or Minus Two, The” (Miller),
46

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