Sturkie's Avian Physiology is the classic comprehensive single volume on the physiology of domestic as well as wild birds. The Sixth Edition is thoroughly revised and updated, and features several new chapters with entirely new content on such topics as migration, genomics and epigenetics. Chapters throughout have been greatly expanded due to the many recent advances in the field. The text also covers the physiology of flight, reproduction in both male and female birds, and the immunophysiology of birds. The Sixth Edition, like the earlier editions, is a must for anyone interested in comparative physiology, poultry science, veterinary medicine, and related fields. This volume establishes the standard for those who need the latest and best information on the physiology of birds. - Includes new chapters on endocrine disruptors, magnetoreception, genomics, proteomics, mitochondria, control of food intake, molting, stress, the avian endocrine system, bone, the metabolic demands of migration, behavior and control of body temperature - Features extensively revised chapters on the cardiovascular system, pancreatic hormones, respiration, pineal gland, pituitary gland, thyroid, adrenal gland, muscle, gastro-intestinal physiology, incubation, circadian rhythms, annual cycles, flight, the avian immune system, embryo physiology and control of calcium - Stands out as the only comprehensive, single volume devoted to bird physiology - Offers a full consideration of both blood and avian metabolism on the companion website (http://booksite.elsevier.com/ 9780124071605). Tables feature hematological and serum biochemical parameters together with circulating concentrations of glucose in more than 200 different species of wild birds

Since the publication of earlier editions, there has been The new edition has a number of new contributors, a considerable increase in research activity ina number who have written on the nervous system, sense organs, of areas, with each succeeding edition including new muscle, endocrines, reproduction, digestion and immu chapters and an expansion of knowledge in older chap nophysiology. Contributors from previous editions ters. have expanded their offerings considerably. The fourth edition contains two new chapters, on The authors are indebted to various investigators, muscle and immunophysiology, the latter an area journals and books for the many illustrations used. Indi where research on Aves has contributed significantly vidual acknowledgement is made in the legends and to our general knowledge of the subject. references. Preface to the 'Third Edition Since the publication of the first and second editions, pathways of birds and mammals. New contributors in there has been a considerable increase of research activ clude M. R. Fedde and T. B. Bolton, who have com ity in avian physiology in a number of areas, including pletely revised and expanded the chapters on respira endocrinology and reproduction, heart and circulation, tion and the nervous system, respectively, and J. G. respiration, temperature regulation, and to a lesser ex Rogers, Jr. , W. J. Mueller, H. Opel, and D. e. Meyer, who have made contributions to Chapters 2,16, 17, tent in some other areas. There appeared in 1972-1974 a four volume treatise and 19, respectively.

Selected by Forbes.com as one of the 12 best books about birds and birding in 2016 This much-anticipated third edition of the Handbook of Bird Biology is an essential and comprehensive resource for everyone interested in learning more about birds, from casual bird watchers to formal students of ornithology. Wherever you study birds your enjoyment will be enhanced by a better understanding of the incredible diversity of avian lifestyles. Arising from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology and authored by a team of experts from around the world, the Handbook covers all aspects of avian diversity, behaviour, ecology, evolution, physiology, and conservation. Using examples drawn from birds found in every corner of the globe, it explores and distills the many scientific discoveries that have made birds one of our best known - and best loved - parts of the natural world. This edition has been completely revised and is presented with more than 800 full color images. It provides readers with a tool for life-long learning about birds and is suitable for bird watchers and ornithology students, as well as for ecologists, conservationists, and resource managers who work with birds. The Handbook of Bird Biology is the companion volume to the Cornell Lab's renowned distance learning course, www.birds.cornell.edu/courses/home/homestudy/.

Sturkie's Avian Physiology is the classic comprehensive single volume on the physiology of domestic as well as wild birds. The Fifth Edition is thoroughly revised and updated, and includes new chapters on the physiology of incubation and growth. Chapters on the nervous system and sensory organs have been greatly expanded due to the many recent advances in the field. The text also covers the physiology of flight, reproduction in both male and female birds, and the immunophysiology of birds. The Fifth Edition, like the earlier editions, is a must for anyone interested in comparative physiology, poultry science, veterinary medicine, and related fields. This volume establishes the standard for those who need the latest and best information on the physiology of birds. - Thoroughly updated and revised - Coverage of both domestic and wild birds - New larger format - Only comprehensive, single volume devoted to birds

Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds is the most current and comprehensive account of research on avian reproduction. It develops two unique themes: the consideration of female avian reproductive physiology and ecology, and an emphasis on individual variation in life-history traits. Tony Williams investigates the physiological, metabolic, energetic, and hormonal mechanisms that underpin individual variation in the key female-specific reproductive traits and the trade-offs between these traits that determine variation in fitness. The core of the book deals with the avian reproductive cycle, from seasonal gonadal development, through egg laying and incubation, to chick rearing. Reproduction is considered in the context of the annual cycle and through an individual's entire life history. The book focuses on timing of breeding, clutch size, egg size and egg quality, and parental care. It also provides a primer on female reproductive physiology and considers trade-offs and carryover effects between reproduction and other life-history stages. In each chapter, Williams describes individual variation in the trait of interest and the evolutionary context for trait variation. He argues that there is only a rudimentary, and in some cases nonexistent, understanding of the physiological mechanisms that underpin individual variation in the major reproductive life-history traits, and that research efforts should refocus on these key unresolved problems by incorporating detailed physiological studies into existing long-term population studies, generating a new synthesis of physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology.

gested as acting as transmitters at synapses within point show structural modifications and physiologic 3 the eNS. The evidence for their transmitter roles specialization. Generally this specialization takes the form of the release of some chemical substance, in the bird is reviewed on p. 21. the transmitter, from one neuron (termed the pre synaptic neuron) into the narrow cleft, the synaptic Propagation of Excitation in Neurons gap, between apposed neurons. The postsynaptic membrane exhibits chemosensitivity and responds The axons of motor nerves and the dendrites of to the released transmitter in a characteristic way. sensory nerves are very long and may conduct exci The ability of one neuron to release transmitter tation over a meter or more. Neurons, and also and that of the other neuron to respond to it deter muscle cells, concentrate potassium within them mines the direction of the excitation's passage selves and exclude sodium. The tendency for potas across the synapse and the designation of one sium to leave the cell down its concentration gra membrane as "presynaptic" and the other as "post dient is matched by the concentrating ability of the synaptic. " In the periphery, where neuron apposes sodium pump which also pumps potassium. Be skeletal muscle, specialized regions of the mem cause the cell membrane is permeable to potassium, brane, such as the "endplate," have sometimes de a diffusion potential arises from the unequal con veloped. In smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and centrations of potassium at either side.

E. GWINNER! The phenomenon of bird migration with its large scale dimensions has attracted the attention of naturalists for centuries. Worldwide billions of birds leave their breeding grounds every autumn to migrate to areas with seasonally more favor able conditions. Many of these migrants travel only over a few hundred kilo meters but others cover distances equivalent to the circumference of the earth. Among these long-distance migrants are several billion birds that invade Africa every autumn from their West and Central Palaearctic breeding areas. In the Americas and in Asia the scope of bird migration is of a similar magnitude. Just as impressive as the numbers of birds are their achievements. They have to cope with the enormous energetic costs of long-distance flying. particularly while crossing oceans and deserts that do not allow replenishment of depleted fat reserves. They have to appropriately time the onset and end of migrations. both on a daily and annual basis. And finally. they have to orient their migratory movements in space to reach their species- or population-specific wintering and breeding grounds, irrespective of the variable climatic conditions along their migratory routes.