Our purposes in this preface are, first, to reiterate our view of Current Ornithology's role; second, to describe briefly the contents of this vol- ume; and third, to acknowledge the generous help of our Editorial Board and of the reviewers we have consulted about the contents of Volumes 13 and 14. As far as we know, Current Ornithology is the only English-lan- guage publication currently devoted exclusively to extensive reviews and syntheses of topics pertaining to all aspects of the biology of birds. Its chapters deal with subjects falling under such diverse rubrics as ecology, evolution,...

Current Ornithology publishes authoritative, up-to-date, scholarly reviews of topics selected from the full range of current research in avian biology. Topics cover the spectrum from the molecular level of organization to population biology and community ecology. The series seeks especially to review (1) fields in which an abundant recent literature will benefit from synthesis and organization, or (2) newly emerging fields that are gaining recognition as the result of recent discoveries or shifts in perspective, or (3) fields in which students of vertebrates may benefit from...

Current Ornithology publishes authoritative, up-to-date, scholarly reviews of topics selected from the full range of current research in avian biology. Topics cover the spectrum from the molecular level of organization to population biology and community ecology. The series seeks especially to review 1) fields in which abundant recent literature will benefit from synthesis and organization, 2) newly emerging fields that are gaining recognition as the result of recent discoveries or shifts in perspective, and 3) fields in which students of vertebrates may benefit from comparisons of...

The latest edition of the annual publication boasts new editors and six papers on social cognition in birds compared to primates, predicting cognitive capacity from natural history with examples from four species of corvids, assessing body conditions in birds, avian chemical defense, evaluating the

Current Ornithology publishes authoritative, up-to-date, scholarly reviews of topics selected from the full range of current research in avian biology. Topics cover the spectrum from the molecular level of organization to population biology and community ecology. The series seeks especially to review (1) fields in which an abundant recent literature will benefit from synthesis and organization, or (2) newly emerging fields that are gaining recognition as the result of recent discoveries or shifts in perspective, or (3) fields in which students of vertebrates may benefit from...

Current Ornithology publishes authoritative, up-to-date, scholarly reviews of topics selected from the full range of current research in avian biology. Topics cover the spectrum from the molecular level of organization to population biology and community ecology. The series seeks especially to review 1) fields in which abundant recent literature will benefit from synthesis and organization, 2) newly emerging fields that are gaining recognition as the result of recent discoveries or shifts in perspective, and 3) fields in which students of vertebrates may benefit from comparisons of...

As we assume the editorship of Current Ornithology, it seems useful to review the objectives of the series. We cannot improve on the state- ments of our predecessors when they began their service as editors. In his preface to Volume 1 (1983), Richard F. Johnston wrote: The appearance of the first volume of a projected series is the occasion for comment on scope, aims, and genesis of the work. The scope of Current Or- nithology is all of the biology of birds. Ornithology, as a whole-organism sci- ence, is concerned with birds at every level of biological organization, from the molecular to the...

Our purposes in this preface are, first, to reiterate our view of Current Ornithology's role; second, to describe briefly the contents of this vol- ume; and third, to acknowledge the generous help of our Editorial Board and of the reviewers we have consulted about the contents of Volumes 13 and 14. As far as we know, Current Ornithology is the only English-lan- guage publication currently devoted exclusively to extensive reviews and syntheses of topics pertaining to all aspects of the biology of birds. Its chapters deal with subjects falling under such diverse rubrics as ecology, evolution,...