Insect & bird interactions

Hardback  302  ISBN 1898298920      £70.00

This unique book is the first of its kind to explore the diversity of interactions between insects and birds. A group of international experts enthusiastically agreed to contribute to the four sections of the book following the success of an Entomological Club Conference on Insect and Bird Interactions. The first section covers population management issues, discussing effects on birds highly relevant to the planting of large areas of GM crops, new opportunities for increasing biodiversity in farming landscapes, and the novel aspect of managing insects by exploiting birds as biological control agents. This is followed by a section discussing the effects of insecticides on bird populations, and includes a contribution from the RSPB, as well as a re-appraisal of the effects of DDT on raptors. Next, the foraging behaviour of birds on insects is discussed, with chapters also on 'warning' coloration in insects and learning by birds. The first chapter in this section is unusual in having been written by an ophthalmologist and covers colour vision in birds, more specifically ultraviolet vision in relation to insect coloration. Finally, the authors look at insects that are parasites of birds or feed on the detritus in nests, and review the ecology and evolution of the co-adaptation of insect ectoparasites with birds. Insect and Bird Interactions is unparalleled in scope and coverage and will be of interest to entomologists, ornithologists, and ecologists alike.

Summary:

Population management issues. Case study : an example of the kind of study now needed for insectivorous birds - population level implications of variations in prey availability and quality in shorebirds : what we see is not necessarily what they get. Birds of lowland arable farmland : the importance and identification of invertebrate diversity in the diet of chicks. Insect as food for farmland birds - is there a problem ? The impact of agriculture and some solutions for arthropods and birds. Productivity and profitability : the effects of farming practices of the prey of insectivorous birds. Birds as predators of lepidopterous larvae. Effects of insecticides on bird populations. Can pesticides cause reductions in bird populations ? Interactions between an endangered bird species, non-endemic insect pests, and insecticides : the deployment of insect growth regulators in the conservation of the Seychelles.