Nests, Eggs, and Incubation

Charles started working on aspects of bird incubation in the early 1980s and has had a varied career since. Postgraduate research examined the physiological basis of egg turning during incubation and postdoctoral research described the effects of incubation temperature on growth and sex determination in alligators. Aside from scientific publications Charles has edited key review texts on avian and reptilian development and incubation, and ostrich biology. Since 2003 Charles has been teaching biology at the University of Lincoln, where he has added how bird nests function to his list of research interests.Jim has worked on the reproductive biology of a variety of bird species over the last 25 years including common kingfishers in the UK, spruce grouse in boreal forests of Canada, Florida scrub-jays in the oak scrublands of the southern USA and most recently sooty terns on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. His research focuses on how human-induced changes in food availability, habitat structure, predation risk and ecological community structure influence the breeding behaviour, ecology, life history and ultimately the breeding performance of birds. Such research will become increasingly pertinent as we attempt to understand how bird populations respond to an ever-urbanising world.

This book does an excellent job of incorporating new advances in the field of avian incubation, yet it is far more than simply an update of Deemings previous publication [...] chapters within will make valuable reading for natural historians, behavioral ecologists, vertebrate physiologists, and evolutionary biologists, regardless of their mtaxonomic interests. For nonornithologists, perhaps largely for those focused on vertebrates, this volume contains the necessary introduction to the evolution and physiology of avian incubation that will allow all readers to make useful comparisons with, and gain valuable insight into, their own areas of interest.

• Tim Birkhead: Foreword Preface 1: S.J. Reynolds & D.C. Deeming: Incubating new ideas about avian reproduction 2: D.C. Deeming: The fossil record and evolution of avian egg nesting and incubation 3: S.D. Healy, K.V. Morgan & I.E. Bailey: Nest-construction behaviour 4: D.C. Deeming & M.C. Mainwaring: Functional properties of nests 5: M.C. Mainwaring, S.J. Reynolds & K. Weidinger: The influence of predation on the location and design of nests 6: M.C. Mainwaring: Nest construction and incubation in a changing climate 7: A. West, P. Cassey & C.M. Thomas: Microbiology of nests and eggs 8: I. López-Rull & C. Macías Garcia: Control of invertebrate occupants of nests 9: G.F. Birchard & D.C. Deeming: Egg allometry: influences of phylogeny and the altricial-precocial continuum 10: T.D. Williams & T.G.G. Groothuis: Egg quality, embryonic development and post-hatching phenotype: an integrated perspective 11: K. Brulez, T.W. Pike & S.J. Reynolds: Egg signalling: the use of visual, auditory and chemical stimuli 12: V. Marasco & K.A. Spencer: Improvements in our understanding of behaviour during incubation 13: A. Nord & J.B. Williams: The energetic costs of incubation 14: G.R. Hepp, S.E. DuRant & W.A. Hopkins: Influence of incubation temperature on offspring phenotype and fitness in birds 15: J.A. Smith, C.B. Cooper & S.J. Reynolds: Advances in techniques to study incubation 16: D.C. Deeming & N.S. Jarrett: Applications of incubation science to aviculture and conservation 17: C.B. Cooper, R.L. Bailey & D.I. Leech: The role of citizen science in studies of avian reproduction 18: D.C. Deeming & S.J. Reynolds: Perspectives on avian nests and eggs