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Diving Birds Of North America: Frontmatter, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: Frontmatter, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
Contents
List of Illustrations and Tables
Preface
Diving Birds Of North America: 2 Comparative Distributions And Structural Adaptations, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: 2 Comparative Distributions And Structural Adaptations, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
The geographic distributions of the loons, auks, and grebes are primarily reflections of the evolutionary histories of each of the groups, past climatic and geologic phenomena, and present-day climatic and ecological conditions. Thus all the loons and auks are Northern Hemisphere birds, which presumably have never been able to bridge the tropical barrier into the Southern Hemisphere, where seemingly suitable breeding habitat might exist in, for example, southern South America and Tierra del Fuego. Indeed, the breeding distribution of the Northern American loons is distinctly arctic oriented, with the greatest species density north of the boundaries of arctic tundra in …
Diving Birds Of North America: 4 Comparative Diets And Foraging Ecologies, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: 4 Comparative Diets And Foraging Ecologies, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
Auks, loons, and grebes are birds whose anatomies and behaviors have been sharply influenced by their foraging niche adaptations. In each species these have evolved through natural selection over extended periods of geologic time as a reflection of available food resources, the presence of competing species, and the limitations on innate variations in anatomy, physiology, and behavior imposed by available genetic mutations and recombinations. To a very considerable degree the auks, loons, and grebes seem to have adjusted to the effects of interspecific competition by evolving differences in bill shape and body size that sometimes open specific new foraging niche …
Diving Birds Of North America: 3 Comparative Egocentric And Locomotory Behaviors, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: 3 Comparative Egocentric And Locomotory Behaviors, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
As used here, "egocentric behavior" means those categories of individual survival and maintenance behaviors that are exclusive of such social interactions as aggressive, sexual, and parental behaviors, which will be considered in detail in the individual species accounts and also will be separately summarized in chapter 5. A discussion of the ecological aspects of foraging behavior will also be deferred until chapter 4, though behavioral aspects of underwater locomotion and prey catching will be considered here.
Diving Birds Of North America: 6 Comparative Life Histories And Reproductive Success Rates, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: 6 Comparative Life Histories And Reproductive Success Rates, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
It is now well recognized that, like behavior, a species' life history characteristics, such as age at sexual maturity, clutch sizes, and incubation, brooding, and fledging patterns, are evolved traits that may be strongly influenced by a variety of ecological factors. Within the auks, loons, and grebes one can find variations in the age at sexual maturity and time of first breeding ranging from as little as 1 to as many as 5 or 6 years, average clutch sizes that range from 1 to 4 eggs, and substantial variations in adult survival rates and maximum longevity. However, compared with such …
Diving Birds Of North America: Species Accounts — Loons (Gaviidae), Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: Species Accounts — Loons (Gaviidae), Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
Loons are large diving birds having long, straight, and acutely pointed bills, with feathers covering the lores (region between eye and bill) and extending to the linear nostrils. There are 10 functional primaries and 22–23 secondaries, the inner secondaries shorter than the primaries. Molting of the remiges (flight feathers) is simultaneous, and the wings are not used for underwater propulsion. The 16–20 rectrices (tail feathers) are short and stiff. The body feathers are shiny and water-resistant; aftershafts and adult down feathers are present. The legs are set extremely far back on the body, making standing very difficult and walking or …
Diving Birds Of North America: Index, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: Index, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
This index is limited to the English vernacular and Latin names of species and subspecies of loons, grebes, and auks discussed individually in this book. Complete indexing is confined to entries for the English vernacular names of species as used in this book. The principal account of each species is indicated by italic page numbers.
[Publisher’s note: The PDF files of the complete book and all chapters have been converted to text via optical character recognition, and may be word-searched from Adobe Reader or Acrobat.]
Diving Birds Of North America: Literature Cited, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: Literature Cited, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
14 pages, with more than 500 references.
Diving Birds Of North America: 1 General Attributes And Evolutionary Relationships, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: 1 General Attributes And Evolutionary Relationships, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
Loons, grebes, and auks comprise a rather large number of species of aquatic diving birds that are fairly unfamiliar to most people, inasmuch as they tend to spend much of their time well away from shore and, when approached on the water, usually dive inconspicuously and reappear a considerable distance away. Thus in many areas grebes, simply called "helldivers," are often confused with coots or even diving ducks. Many people know loons only by their wild, penetrating cries and romantically associate them with northern woods and lakes, while auks are symbolic of arctic coastal cliffs. But ornithologists can find fascinating …
Diving Birds Of North America [Complete Book], Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America [Complete Book], Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
Considering the great nostalgic attraction of such birds as the common loon for people who have lived at least part of their lives around the lakes of Canada and the northern United States, and given the endearing visual appeal of species like puffins and auklets, it is rather surprising that there are so few books on these groups of aquatic birds. During my childhood summers at our Minnesota lake cottage I used to spend hours watching loons and red-necked grebes, and I marveled at their wonderful diving ability and powerful voices. Much later, the wild puffins and massed breeding colonies …
Diving Birds Of North America: 5 Comparative Pair-Forming And Copulatory Behaviors, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: 5 Comparative Pair-Forming And Copulatory Behaviors, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
All species of loons, grebes, and auks are monogamous, with adults forming strong pair bonds that are established or reestablished each year, probably during the spring prenesting period. The extent of remating by birds mated the previous year in these groups is still largely undocumented, though at least in alcids it is fairly high, given the relatively long life-spans and the tendencies of the birds to return year after year to essentially the same territory and sometimes to the same nest site. Such conditions would promote reestablishment of contracts between previously paired birds, since it is not believed that in …
Diving Birds Of North America: Species Accounts — Grebes (Podicipedidae), Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: Species Accounts — Grebes (Podicipedidae), Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
Grebes are small to medium-sized diving birds having bills that vary from short and rather blunt tipped to long and acutely pointed, with bare lores and head feathers not extending to the linear or oval nostrils. There are 11 functional primaries and 17–22 secondaries, the inner secondaries longer than the primaries. Molting of the primaries is simultaneous; the wings are not used for underwater propulsion, which is provided by the feet. The rectrices are soft, rudimentary, and hidden. The body feathers are small, water-resistant, and shiny. Aftershafts and adult down feathers are present. The legs are set extremely far back …
Diving Birds Of North America: Appendices, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: Appendices, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
Sources of Scientific and Vernacular Names
Keys to Identification of Loons, Grebes, and Auks
Key to Families of Loons, Grebes, and Auks
Key to Species of North American Loons
Key to Species of North American Grebes
Key to Species of North American Auks
Major North American Auk Colonies
Summer Abundance and Breeding Status of Grebes at Selected National Wildlife Refuges
Diving Birds Of North America: Species Accounts — Auks (Alcidae), Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: Species Accounts — Auks (Alcidae), Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
Auks are small to medium-sized diving birds having bills that are variably pointed and compressed but never acuminate and are sometimes covered with colorful horny sheaths in breeding adults. Feathering densely covers the lores and often extends to the nostrils, which vary from linear to oval. There are 10 functional primaries and 15–19 secondaries; the greater secondary and primary coverts are usually lengthened. Molting of the primaries is usually simultaneous but is gradual in some species; the wings are used for underwater propulsion, and the feet are then used mainly for steering. The 12–18 rectrices are short and normal in …
Diving Birds Of North America: Color Plates, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds Of North America: Color Plates, Paul A. Johnsgard
Diving Birds of North America by Paul A. Johnsgard
1. Arctic loon, adult in breeding plumage. Photo by author.
2. Red-throated loon, nesting adult. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
3. Yellow-billed loon, adult in breeding plumage. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
4. Common loon, nesting adult. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
5. Pied-billed grebe, adult in breeding plumage. Photo by author.
6. Least grebe, adult and young. Painting by Mark E. Marcuson.
7. Red-necked grebe, nesting adult. Photo by author.
8. Eared grebe, adults with young. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
9. Horned grebe, nesting adult. Photo by Kenneth W. Fink.
10. Western grebe, adult with young. Photo by …