Hello and welcome.

This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted, guided exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

This episode, which is number 48, is about the pecking order in birds, or to use the more technical

term, dominance hierarchy.

Our focus will be on dominance hierarchies that we see among birds within a single species.

White-crowned sparrows beating up on other white-crown sparrows, for example,

as opposed to white-crown sparrows beating up on another species, like Lincoln's Sparrow.

The latter would be an example of inter-species dominance.

But today, we're talking about intra-species dominance, meaning within species.

This all has to do with bird behavior, some bad behavior, some good behavior, the whole range.

It's pretty interesting stuff, so how about we get into it?

For most birds and other animals living wild and free out in nature, there just isn't enough food to go around. The harsh reality is not every individual can get all the food it

needs. The same is true for shelter, nest sites, and mates.

Vitally important resources like these are limited.

That's one reason that evolution by natural selection works, right?

The fittest individuals in the population are the ones that get the most of the limited resources.

And then those guys are more likely to survive and pass on their genes.

Animals and plants have all sorts of clever adaptations for being more fit.

No, not fit like they've been working on their glutes at the gym, or fit, meaning sexy

in British slang, but fit as in having evolutionary fitness, having what it takes to survive

...