Although feathers are the unifying characteristic of all birds, our understanding of the
causes, mechanisms, patterns and consequences of the feather moult process lags behind …

The first comprehensive review of all aspects of the biology of moult, drawing information
from across the literature and in all birds, from penguins to passerines. Feathers are …

This paper shows how our knowledge of the evolution, ecology and conservation of birds
can be improved through the analysis of external morphological traits. After giving a short …

Seasonal migration is a widespread phenomenon, which is found in many different lineages
of animals. This spectacular behaviour allows animals to avoid seasonally adverse …

Background The trade-off between current and residual reproductive values is central to life
history theory, although the possible mechanisms underlying this trade-off are largely …

A temporal separation of energetically costly life history events like reproduction and
maintenance of the integumentary system is thought to be promoted by selection to avoid …

During moult, stressors such as malaria and related haemosporidian parasites (eg
Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) could affect the growth rate and quality of feathers, which …

The failure of animals to fit all life-cycle stages into an annual cycle could reduce the
chances of successful breeding. In some cases, non-optimal strategies will be adopted in …

Moult is a costly but necessary process in avian life, which displays two main temporal
patterns within the annual cycle of birds (summer and winter moult). Timing of moult can …

Resource allocation for body tissues is under strong selection pressures because allocating
too many resources may waste both energy and essential nutrients, and allocating too few …