Sexual Selection and the Barn Swallow

This informative book details the important effects sexual selection has on barn swallow mating behavior, mating competition, parental care, host-parasite interactions, and migration strategies. The first two chapters present a concise, insightful review of the two main components of sexual selection theory--male-male competition and female choice. Citing evidence from the author's long-term field work on the monogamous barn swallow, subsequent chapters investigate the advantages held by males with colorful plumage and by females who are choosy when selecting a mating partner. In his exploration of the roles of behavior, ecology, morphology, genetics, and evolution, Moller provides an invaluable synthesis of barn swallow mating behavior research. Students and researchers of ecology, animal behavior, ornithology, and evolutionary biology will welcome this book.