Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays
Birds have long been viewed as the archetypal featherbrainsbeautiful but dumb. But according to naturalist Candace Savage, bird brain,” as a pejorative expression, should be rendered obsolete by new research on the family of corvids: crows and their close relations. The ancients who regarded...
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Birds have long been viewed as the archetypal featherbrainsbeautiful but dumb. But according to naturalist Candace Savage, bird brain,” as a pejorative expression, should be rendered obsolete by new research on the family of corvids: crows and their close relations. The ancients who regarded these remarkable birds as oracles, bringers of wisdom, or agents of vengeance were on the right track, for corvids appear to have powers of abstraction, memory, and creativity that put them on a par with many mammals, even higher primates. Bird Brains presents these bright, brassy, and surprisingly colorful birds in a remarkable collection of full-color, close-up photographs by some two dozen of the world’s best wildlife photographers. Savage’s lively, authoritative text describes the life and behavior of sixteen representative corvid species that inhabit North America and Europe. Drawing on recent research, she describes birds that recognize each other as individuals, call one another by name,” remember and relocate thousands of hidden food caches, engage in true teamwork and purposeful play, and generally exhibit an extraordinary degree of sophistication.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780871569561 (0871569566)
Publish date: June 2nd 1997
Publisher: Sierra Club Books
Pages no: 144
Edition language: English
Category:
Non Fiction,
Science,
Environment,
Nature,
Natural History,
Biology,
Ecology,
Science Nature,
Animals,
Birds,
Ornithology
Bird-brain is by no means an insult. When I happened upon this book at the library, I was delighted by the potential mix of one of my passions, animal intelligence, and positive PR for a widely maligned species. Alas, then, when I discovered this book was heavy on the pictures, light on the intellig...
A must-read for anyone interested in birds, including younger folk. Easy to read but very informative.I really liked this author's more recent book on crows, so I knew I had to read this one too. She has distilled information from many different sources into a very enjoyable, easily understood boo...