Communal breeding

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Many species breed in colonies or large communities which is known as communal breeding. It is common to see large congregations of these species in particular favorable locations in their breeding seasons. These breeding colonies and their location are generally protected by wildlife conservation laws to keep the species from going extinct. Some species have evolved for communal breeding in large breeding colonies and can not breed in smaller numbers or pairs alone. These species can be threatened by imminent extinction if they are hunted on their breeding grounds or if their breeding colonies are destroyed. The Passenger pigeon is a famous example of probably the most numerous land bird on the American continent which had evolved for communal breeding that went extinct due to large scale hunting in its communal breeding grounds during the breeding season and its inability to breed in smaller numbers.

See also

• Reproduction
• Mating system
• Breeding season
• Habitat
• Ecology
• Ecosystem
• Habitat conservation
• Habitat fragmentation
• Cooperative breeding
• Communal roosting

Further reading

• Jerram L. Brown, Helping and Communal Breeding in Birds 70-75 (1987)
• Jerram L. Brown, Avian Communal Breeding Systems, Ann. Rev. Ecology & Systematics 9:123 (1978)
• Stephen T. Emlen & Sandra L. Vehrencamp, Cooperative Breeding Strategies among Birds, in Perspectives in Ornithology 93 (Alan H. Brush & George A. Clark, Jr. eds., 1983)

External links

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