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Birds play the waiting game in tough environmental conditions


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Every animal's ultimate goal in life is to generate offspring to pass on its genetic material to the next generation. But sometimes, resources are scarce and the task of reproduction is too difficult or risky. If resources are limited and tough to find, reproductive efforts may fail anyway. In these situations, it may be in an animal's best interests to not defend a territory or to breed at all, but rather to focus its efforts on surviving to the next breeding season. Biologists refer to individuals without a territory during the breeding season as 'floaters'. A new study from The Auk: Ornithological Advances presents some of the best evidence on how changes in environmental conditions, specifically droughts, impact the social and reproductive behavior of birds.

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