Jerry Blinn wrote an especially interesting account of Nisqually birds. I
can't resist adding one comment to it.

>Clumsy Tree Swallow youngsters are easily identified in flight by stalls, near
>crashes, spins, and three-point crash landings on limbs where they decide to
>wait for mommy to feed them.

Don't forget that daddy does half the feeding in the vast majority of
passerine birds. They evolved the monogamous lifestyle because two parents
could raise more young than one. For the most part, males don't feed young
in polygynous species such as Red-winged Blackbirds.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416