Includes bibliographical references and index.

The challenges of urban living / Danielle F. Shanahan, Michael W. Strohbach, Paige S. Warren, and Richard A. Fuller -- The impact of artificial light on avian ecology / Kamiel Spoelstra and Marcel E. Visser -- Wild bird feeding (probably) affects avian urban ecology / Valentin Amrhein -- Attention, habituation, and antipredator behaviour : implications for urban birds / Daniel T. Blumstein -- Behavioural and ecological predictors of urbanization / Anders Pape Møller -- Acoustic communication in the urban environment : patterns, mechanisms, and potential consequences of avian song adjustments / Diego Gil and Henrik Brumm -- The impact of anthropogenic noise on avian communication and fitness / Wouter Halfwerk and Hans Slabbekoorn -- Reproductive phenology of urban birds: environmental cues and mechanisms / Pierre Deviche and Scott Davies -- The impacts of urbanization on avian disease transmission and emergence / Lynn B. Martin and Martyna Boruta -- Mechanisms of phenotypic responses following colonization of urban areas : from plastic to genetic adaptation / Jesko Partecke -- Landscape genetics of urban bird populations / Kathleen Semple Delaney -- Reconciling innovation and adaptation during recurrent colonization of urban environments : molecular, genetic, and developmental bases / Alexander V. Badyaev -- Acoustic, morphological, and genetic adaptations to urban habitats in the silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) / Dominique A. Potvin, Raoul A. Mulder, and Kirsten M. Parris -- Human-induced changes in the dynamics of species coexistence : an example with two sister species / Renée A. Duckworth -- The application of signal transmission modelling in conservation biology : on the possible impact of a projected motorway on avian communication / Erwin Nemeth and Sue Anne Zollinger -- The importance of wooded urban green areas for breeding birds : a case study from northern Finland / Jukka Jokimäki, Marja-Liisa Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki, and Pilar Carbó-Ramírez.

As natural habitat continues to be lost and the world steadily becomes more urbanized, biologists are increasingly studying the effect this has on wildlife. Birds are particularly good model systems since their life history, behaviour, and physiology are especially influenced by directly measurable environmental factors such as light and sound pollution. It is therefore relatively easy to compare urban individuals and populations with their rural counterparts. This accessible text focuses on the behavioural and physiological mechanisms which facilitate adaptation and on the evolutionary process that ensues. It discusses topics such as acoustics, reproductive cues, disease, and artificial feeding, and includes a series of case studies illustrating cutting edge research on these areas. Avian Urban Ecology is suitable for professional avian biologists and ornithologists as well as graduate students of avian ecology, evolution, and conservation. It will also be of relevance and use to a more general audience of urban ecologists and conservation biologists. Readership: Professional avian biologists and ornithologists as well as graduate students of avian ecology, evolution, and conservation. A secondary market will exist amongst a more general audience of urban ecologists and conservation biologists.