Colonial breeding in birds is widely considered to benefit individuals through enhanced
protection against predators or transfer of information about foraging sites. This view …

Summary 1 The hypothesis of site‐dependent population regulation predicts that birds
utilize available nesting sites in a pre‐emptive (ideal despotic) manner, leading to density …

Australia has many cooperatively breeding species of birds. These tend to occur in eucalypt
and semi-arid woodlands rather than in rainforests or deserts. They tend to be insectivores …

In many species mature individuals delay independent reproduction and may help others to
reproduce. This behaviour is often explained through ecological constraints, although …

In many territorial breeders, conspecifics that intrude during the chick‐rearing period pose a
threat to survival of young. Defense of young from intruders is costly to parents, so it is likely …

For species with positive density dependence, costs and benefits of increasing density may
depend on environmental conditions, but this has seldom been tested. By examining a …

When dispersal options are limited and encounters with relatives are likely, individuals need
to recognize and avoid mating with kin to avoid the fitness costs of close inbreeding. New …

Summary 1 In many animal populations a small proportion of individuals produce the
majority of surviving offspring, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Behaviour may …

Approximately 13% of the world's bird species, belonging to 60 families or sub-families,
breed colonially: this behaviour is most pronounced in marine and freshwater nidicolous …

Brünnich's Guillemots Uria lomvia are adapted to high‐density breeding in large colonies on
steep cliffs. Because they breed on narrow ledges, egg loss through dislodgement is an …