Nicholas Barry Davies Explained

Nicholas Barry Davies ^[1] (born 1952) is a British field naturalist and zoologist, and Emeritus Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Cambridge,^[2] where he is also a Emeritus Fellow of Pembroke College.

Research

His books with John Krebs helped to define the field of behavioural ecology, the study of how behaviour evolves in response to selection pressures from ecology and the social environment.^[3]

His study of a small brown bird, the dunnock, linked detailed behavioural observations of individuals to their reproductive success, using DNA profiles to measure paternity and maternity, and revealed how sexual conflicts gave rise to variable mating systems including: monogamy, polygyny, polyandry and polygynandry.

His studies of cuckoos and their hosts have revealed an evolutionary arms race of brood parasite adaptations and host counter-adaptations.

Other studies include: territory economics in pied wagtails; contest behaviour and mate searching in butterflies and toads; parent-offspring conflict and the transition to independence in young birds.

Awards and distinctions

• Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London, 1987
• Fellow of the Royal Society, 1994
• University of Cambridge Teaching Prize, 1995
• William Bate Hardy Prize of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1995^[4]
• Medal of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, 1996
• President of the International Society for Behavioural Ecology, 2000-2002
• British Trust for Ornithology / British Birds "Best Book of the Year Award" in 2000 (for Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats) and in 2015 (for Cuckoo - Cheating by Nature).
  • Frink Medal of the Zoological Society of London, 2001
• Elliott Coues Medal of the American Ornithologists' Union, 2005^[5]
• Hamilton Prize Lecture of the International Society for Behavioural Ecology, 2010
• Croonian Medal and Lecture of the Royal Society, 2015^[6]
• Godman Salvin Medal of the British Ornithologists' Union, 2022^[7]

Key Publications

• Book: Krebs . J.R . Davies . N.B. . John Krebs, Baron Krebs . Behavioural Ecology - An Evolutionary Approach . 4th . 1997 . Blackwell Science.
• Book: Krebs . J.R . Davies . N.B. . John Krebs, Baron Krebs . An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology . 1st . 1981 . Blackwell Science.
• Book: Davies . N.B. . 1992 . Dunnock Behaviour and Social Evolution . Oxford University Press.
• Book: Davies . N.B. . 2000 . Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats . 310 . T. & A.D. Poyser.
• Book: Davies . N.B. . Krebs . J.R. . West . S.A. . 2012 . John Krebs, Baron Krebs . An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology . 4th . Wiley-Blackwell.
• Book: Davies . Nick . 2015 . Cuckoo - Cheating by Nature . Bloomsbury. ^[8]

Media

In 2009, his research was featured as a BBC Natural World program "Cuckoo", produced by Mike Birkhead and narrated by David Attenborough.

In 2011 he presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary entitled 'The Cuckoo'.^[9]

In 2016 he was the subject of a BBC Radio documentary in the series The Life Scientific.^[10]

In 2017 he was the guest of Michael Berkeley on BBC Radio 3 Private Passions.^[11]

In 2017 he appeared in an episode of the BBC Radio 4 Natural Histories series entitled "Cuckoo".^[12]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Fellows of the Royal Society: Nicholas Davies. 2024. The Royal Society.
2. Web site: Professor Nick Davies FRS. 3 June 2013.
3. Milinski, M. 2012. Nature 485, 444. Royle, Nick J. (2013) Book Review: An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology, Animal Behaviour, Volume 85, Issue 3, March, Pages 686–687.
4. Web site: Nicholas B. Davies . American Ornithologists' Union . 18 May 2012.
5. Web site: AOU Elliott Coues Award Nicholas B. Davies . www.aou.org . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100917112208/http://aou.org/awards/senior/coues/davies.php . 2010-09-17.
6. Web site: Cuckoos and their victims: An evolutionary arms race | Royal Society.
7. Kilner . Rebecca . 2022-04-13 . Godman-Salvin Prize: Nicholas B. Davies . Ibis . 164 . 3 . en . 858–859 . 10.1111/ibi.13057 . 248172655 . 0019-1019.
8. Web site: Dalrymple, Theodore. Theodore Dalrymple. Review of Cuckoo: cheating by nature by Nick Davies. September 2015. New English Review.
9. Web site: BBC iPlayer . 11 March 2014.
10. al-Khalili, Jim (2016) The Life Scientific: Nick Davies, BBC Radio 4 (Broadcast June 21, 2016)
11. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0902h7t Private Passions
12. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05bw2zh Natural Histories