Birds Book

	Introduction	1
1	The Evolution of Birds
	Feathered Dinosaur or Flightless Bird: A New Find Stirs the Dust	5
	Two Clues Supporting Idea That Birds Arose from Dinosaurs	12
	Very Early Bird Had a Way to Catch Worms: In a Beak	16
	Fossil "Terror Bird" Offers Clues to Evolution	20
2	Family Life of Birds
	Biologists Tell a Tale of Interfering In-Laws	27
	Mating for Life? It's Not for the Birds or the Bees	34
	For Warblers, More Songs Lead to More Extramarital Flings	42
	Egret Chicks in the Nest Are Natural Born Killers	45
	Designing Birds Impress Their Mates with Fancy Decor	50
3	The Minds of Birds
	Second Greatest Toolmaker? A Title Crows Can Crow About	59
	To Remember Seed Caches, Bird Grows New Brain Cells	64
	Brainy Parrots Dazzle Scientists, but Threat of Extinction Looms	70
	Not Just Music, Bird Song Is a Means of Courtship and Defense	77
	Gene May Help Birds Tune Out Sour Notes and Tune In Rivals	84
4	Bird Biology and Behavior
	Thuggish Cuckoos Use Muscle to Run Egg Protection Racket	91
	For Remote Bird Species, the Sex of Hatchlings Is No Surprise	96
	Seeking Food, Some Sea Birds Rely on the Sense of Smell	100
	Raptors Found to Track Prey's Ultraviolet Trail	103
	Eggs on Feet and Far from Shelter, Male Penguins Do a Shuffle	105
	Juvenile Penguins Go Beyond Safe Area	110
	Why Birds and Bees, Too, Like Good Looks	112
	Canary Chicks: Not All Created Equal	118
	Rabbits Beware! Some Birds of Prey Hunt in Packs	124
	Meek Bird's Survival Secret: Picking Protective Neighbors	130
	The All-Common Crow Has Much in Common with Human Neighbors	132
5	Birds and Ecology
	For Clues to Antarctica's Health, Ask a Penguin	139
	More Than Decoration, Songbirds Are Essential to Forests' Health	144
	Hornbills Are Lynchpins of Indonesian Rain Forest	148
	Hummingbirds Bear Mixed Gift to Flowers in Tropical Forest	152
6	Migration
	Migrating Birds Set Compasses By Sunlight and Stars	159
	Aircraft to Play Mother Goose in Unusual Rescue Experiment	164
	Tiny Transmitters Make It Possible to Track Peregrines Day by Day	168
	Songbird Migrations Tracked with Nocturnal Eavesdropping	172
	Bird-Watching Biologists See Evolution on the Wing	175
7	Protecting American Birds
	Majestic Species' Fate May Ride on Wings of Six Freed Condors	181
	Forest Decline in North Cited in Songbird Loss	185
	Snow Geese Survive All Too Well, Alarming Conservationists	188
	Birds Rescued in Spills Do Poorly, Study Finds	193
	Kirtland's Warbler Finally Finds Lots of Burned Forest to Call Home	196
	Who Will Come to Duck's Rescue? Ancient Forebears Are Enlisted	199
	Predicting Bird Extinctions from Deforestation	201
	Effort to Reintroduce Thick-Billed Parrots in Arizona Is Dropped	204
	Decoys in Maine Lure Sea Birds, Gone a Century	207
	Prairie Ducks Return in Record Numbers	211
8	Protecting Birds Abroad
	Exotic Birds, at Risk in Wild, May Be Banned as Imports to U.S.	219
	Relative Puts Rare European Duck at Edge of Extinction	224
	Mystery Surrounds Global Decline of Flying Robin-Size Predators	227
	Old Nemesis, DDT, Reaches Remote Midway Albatrosses	232
	Unusual Rescue Team, U.S. and Mexico, Tries to Save Rare Parrot	237
	Treaty Partners Study Fate of Birds at Polluted Mexican Lake	241
	A Former Resident of Guam Pins Survival Hopes on Another Island	246
	Acid Rain Is Cutting Birds' Reproduction in a Dutch Forest	249
	India Watches in Vain for Migrating Siberian Crane Flock	252
	Rare Bird Illuminates Bitter Dilemma	255
	Two-Nation Effort Aids Condors in Americas	260
9	Birds and Birders
	Flocks of Biologists Take Wing to Michigan for Mating Season	265
	Harsh Lessons of Survival at the Bird Feeder	269
	Army of Amateurs and Pros Discovers More Birds in Trouble	272
	A Lone Naturalist Defends Secret Places of the Falklands	276
10	Looking to the Future
	Wild Turkeys Return to American Fields	283
	A Bird's Race Toward Extinction Is Halted	288
	A Cleaner Harbor Lures Water Birds to New York	292
	Once Near Death, a Comeback Bird Thrives in Cities	298