The Thing with Feathers (34 page)

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