1 Avian Coloniality: Progress and Problems.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Historical Background.- 3. Phylogenetic Analyses.- 4. Limitation of Breeding Sites.- 5. The Costs and Benefits of Coloniality.- 5.1. Ectoparasite and Disease Transmission.- 5.2. Misdirected Parental Care.- 5.3. Predation-Related Effects.- 6. Social Foraging and Coloniality.- 6.1. The Information Center Hypothesis.- 6.2. The Recruitment Center Hypothesis.- 6.3. Spatial Concentration and Local Enhancement.- 6.4. Competition and Depletion of Food.- 7. Reproductive Success and Habitat Selection.- 7.1. Mean Reproductive Success in Relation to Colony Size.- 7.2. Using Reproductive Success to Select Breeding Sites.- 8. Sexual Selection and Coloniality.- 9. Variation in Colony Size.- 9.1. Ideal-Free Distributions and Local Resources.- 9.2. Phenotypic and Genetic Differences among Individuals.- 9.3. (In)stability of Colony Size.- 10. Prospectus.- References.- 2 Begging in Nestling Birds.- 1. Parent-Offspring Conflict.- 2. The Importance of Signaling.- 2.1. Begging as a Signal.- 2.2. The Models.- 2.3. The Cost of Begging.- 3. Begging Signals.- 3.1. Defining Begging.- 3.2. Is Begging Influenced by Nestling Condition?.- 3.3. Which Cues Do Parents Use?.- 4. Begging as Competition among Nestmates.- 4.1. Sibling Competition.- 4.2. Brood Hierarchies.- 4.3. Brood Parasites.- 5. The Importance of Offspring Sex.- 6. The Role of Biparental Care.- 7. An Alternative Perspective.- 7.1. Begging as Foraging.- 7.2. Do Nestlings Learn?.- 8. Conclusions.- References.- 3 Ecological Aspects of Neophobia and Neophilia in Birds.- 1. Introduction.- 1.1. The Implication of Novelty Responses and Exploration: A Brief Overview.- 1.2. Definitions.- 1.3. Costs and Benefits of Neophilia and Neophobia.- 1.4. Costs and Benefits within Two-factor Models of Exploration and Neophobia.- 2. How Neophobia and Neophilia Are Studied.- 2.1. Assessing Neophobia and Neophilia.- 2.2. Teasing Apart Neophobia, Hunger, and Neophilia..- 2.3. The Nature of Novel Stimuli.- 2.4. Among-Object Variation in Novelty Responses.- 2.5. Innate Bias in Novelty Responses.- 3. What Determines the Intensity of Neophobia and Neophilia in Adult Birds.- 3.1. The Process of Familiarization.- 3.2. The Dynamics of Exploration and Neophobia.- 3.3. Social Facilitation and Novelty Responses.- 3.4. Consistent Individual Variation in Neophobia.- 3.5. Genetic Basis for Intraspecific Variation.- 3.6. Neurobiological Basis for Novelty Responses.- 3.7. Neophobia and Gender.- 3.8. Novelty Responses and the Socioecological Niche.- 3.9. Facultative Changes in Novelty Responsiveness.- 3.10. Seasonal Changes in Costs and Benefits of Novelty Responses.- 4. Exploration in Juvenile Birds.- 4.1. Overview.- 4.2. What Do Juvenile Birds Explore?.- 4.3. Object Manipulation in Young Birds: Familiarization or Practice.- 4.4. The Effect of Diverse and Depauperate Early Environment on Adult Neophobia.- 5. Comparative Studies of Neophobia and Exploration.- 5.1. Taxonomic Comparisons.- 5.2. The Neophobia Threshold Hypothesis.- 5.3. Neophobia and Neophilia in Island Populations.- 6. Conclusions and Future Directions.- References.- 4 Avian Quantitative Genetics.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Components of Phenotypic Variation.- 3. Tools of the Trade.- 3.1. Parent-Offspring Regression.- 3.2. Full-Sib Analyses.- 3.3. Half-Sib Analyses.- 3.4. Realized Heritability.- 3.5. Genetic Correlations.- 3.6. Measurement Error and Repeatability.- 4. Empirical Data.- 4.1. Heritabilities.- 4.2. Genetic Correlations.- 4.3. Empirical Estimates: Conclusion.- 5. Maternal Effects.- 5.1. Adaptive Maternal Effects.- 6. Extra-Pair Paternity.- 6.1. Extra-Pair Paternity Detected by Heritability.- 6.2. Consequences of Extra-Pair Paternity for Avian Quantitative Genetics.- 6.3. Uses of Extra-Pair Paternity for Quantitative Genetic Analysis.- 7. Quantitative Genetics of Fitness.- 8. Genotype-Environment Interactions.- 9. Genetic Basis of Population Differentiation.- 10. Applications of Quantitative Genetics to Avian Evolution.- 11. Further Prospects.- 11.1. Animal Models in Avian Quantitative Genetics.- 11.2. Integration of Molecular and Quantitative Genetics.- 12. Conclusions.- References.- 5 Male Parental Care and Paternity.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Theoretical Models.- 2.1. Assumptions of Models.- 2.2. General Predictions from Models.- 2.3. Does it Pay to Reduce Male Parental Care When Paternity is Low?.- 2.4. Male Parental Care and the Shape of Cost and Benefit Curves.- 2.5. Female Compensation and Evolutionarily Stable Strategy Models.- 2.6. ESS Models.- 2.7. Dynamic Models.- 2.8. Conclusions from Models.- 3. Field Studies: Testing Predictions and Assumptions.- 3.1. How Does Paternity Vary?.- 3.2. Can Males Assess Paternity?.- 3.3. What Are the Costs and Benefits of Reducing Care?.- 3.4. Confounding Factors in Field Studies.- 3.5. Conclusions from Field Studies.- 4. Interspecific Analyses.- 5. Conclusions and Future Directions.- References.- 6 Physiological Ecology and Behavior of Desert Birds.- 1. Introduction.- 1.1. Comparative Methods.- 1.2. Deserts of the World.- 1.3. Avian Evolution.- 1.4. Paleodeserts.- 2. Energy.- 2.1. Basal Metabolic Rate.- 2.2. Field Metabolic Rate.- 3. Water.- 3.1. Water Deprivation.- 3.2. Metabolic Water.- 3.3. Renal Structure and Function.- 3.4. Evaporative Water Loss.- 3.5. Field Water Flux.- 4. Thermoregulation.- 4.1. Responses to High Ta.- 4.2. Macroclimate.- 4.3. Microclimate.- 4.4. Mobility.- 5. Optimization Processes.- 6. Summary.- References.- 7 Reproductive Energy Expenditure, Intraspecific Variation and Fitness in Birds.- 1. Introduction.- 1.1. Intraspecific (Interindividual) Variation.- 1.2. Doubly-Labeled Water and Other Methods for Measuring Energy Expenditure.- 1 3 Aims, Objectives, and Limits.- 2. Is Reproduction Energetically Costly, and at What Stage Is It Most Costly?.- 3. Intraspecific Variation in Daily Energy Expenditure: Biological Variation or Measurement Error?.- 3.1. Measurement Error.- 3.2. Handling or Treatment Effects.- 3.3. Individual Variation in DEE from Field Studies Relative to Measurement Error.- 4. Repeatability of Daily Energy Expenditure Measurements.- 5. Individual, Environmental, and Activity-Related Correlates of DEE.- 5.1. Individual Attributes.- 5.2. Environmental Factors.- 5.3. Activity-Related Variation.- 5.4. Summary.- 6. Metabolic Rate and Body Mass: Intraspecific versus Interspecific Scaling.- 6.1. Intraspecific Variation in Body Composition and Metabolic Rate.- 7. Relationships between DEE and Measures of Reproductive Effort or Fitness.- 7.1. Timing of Laying, Egg Size, and Clutch Size.- 7.2. Offspring Growth and Quality.- 7.3. Brood Size and Provisioning Rate.- 7.4. Costs of Reproduction: Survival and Future Fecundity.- 7.5. Summary.- 8. Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Research.- References.