This book explores the key ecological, biological, physiological, navigational, and evolutionary aspects of migration as it occurs in birds. Using the structure of the annual cycle, it considers how avian migrants differ from their resident counterparts and suggests that these differences represent milestones along the evolutionary pathway that shape a migrant lifestyle through the process of natural selection. This introductory chapter discusses the development of human understanding of migration, the origins of migration, types of migration, patterns of migration within species, and adaptations for bird migration. It also outlines five categories of exaptations that make resident birds possessing them preadapted for migration: life history, movement, navigation, energy storage and use, and timekeeping.
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