About the Author(s)

Jaan Lepson grew up in Hawai'i, where he developed a love for birds and an abiding interest in natural history, particularly of oceanic islands. He received his B.A. in biology from Princeton University in 1985, and graduated from the program in Russian as a foreign language at Leningrad State University in 1986. He received his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Hawai'i at Ma¯noa in 1996, his dissertation focusing on breeding biology, delayed plumage maturation in males, and female plumage variation in the Hawai'i 'Akepa. His research interests focus on the social behavior of nonterritorial species and the conservation of threatened island ecosystems, with a concentration on Pacific islands. Current address: Department of Zoology, 2538 The Mall, University of Hawai'i, Honolulu HI 96822. E-mail: jlepson@zoogate.zoo.hawaii.edu or jaan@hawaii.edu.

Lenny Freed received his B.A. in sociology from Northwestern University in 1969, his M.S. in statistics and Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Iowa in 1981, and postdoctoral training at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute as a fellow. He has been a faculty member at the University of Hawai'i at Ma¯noa since 1983. He is project director of a grant from the World Environment and Resources Program of the MacArthur Foundation that includes construction of a biological field station at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on the island of Hawai'i. His research interests include issues in evolutionary ecology associated with the adaptive radiation of Hawaiian honeycreepers and principles of conservation and restoration ecology to halt and reverse their decline. Current address: Department of Zoology, 2538 The Mall, University of Hawai'i, Honolulu HI 96822. E-mail: lfreed@zoogate.zoo.hawaii.edu.