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If we are to understand why organisms behave in the way they do, we must integrate evolutionary and ecological approaches. The theory of evolution tells us that those traits will evolve that are advantageous to the organism. But which traits are advantageous depends on the ecology of the organism. Evolutionary ecology asks why organisms have the particular adaptations they do. I will describe how such "why" questions are related to other kinds of questions in biology, will illustrate the kinds of methods commonly used to answer these questions, and will give some examples of some major current questions in evolutionary ecology. In doing so, I will draw upon my own work on brood parasitism, which is when individuals of one species parasitise not the tissues, but the parental behaviour of their host species. I will show how an evolutionary approach helps focus questions and predictions about antagonistic interactions such as those between brood parasites and their hosts.
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