Gifts of the Crow

By: and

Synopsis
CROWS ARE MISCHIEVOUS, playful, social, and passionate. They have brains that are huge for their body size and exhibit an avian kind of eloquence. They mate for life and associate with relatives and neighbors for years. And because they often live near people--in our gardens, parks, and cities--they are also keenly aware of our peculiarities, staying away from and even scolding anyone who threatens or harms them and quickly learning to recognize and approach those who care for and feed them, even giving them numerous, oddly touching gifts in return. With his extraordinary research on the intelligence and startling abilities of corvids--crows, ravens, and jays--scientist John Marzluff teams up with artist-naturalist Tony Angell to tell amazing stories of these brilliant birds in Gifts of the Crow. With narrative, diagrams, and gorgeous line drawings, they offer an in-depth look at these complex creatures and our shared behaviors. The ongoing connection between humans and crows--a cultural coevolution--has shaped both species for millions of years. And the characteristics of crows that allow this symbiotic relationship are language, delinquency, frolic, passion, wrath, risk-taking, and awareness--seven traits that humans find strangely familiar. Crows gather around their dead, warn of impending doom, recognize people, commit murder of other crows, lure fish and birds to their death, swill coffee, drink beer, turn on lights to stay warm, design and use tools, use cars as nutcrackers, windsurf and sled to play, and work in tandem to spray soft cheese out of a can. Their marvelous brains allow them to think, plan, and reconsider their actions. With its abundance of funny, awe-inspiring, and poignant stories, Gifts of the Crow portrays creatures who are nothing short of amazing. A testament to years of painstaking research and careful observation, this fully illustrated, riveting work is a thrilling look at one of nature's most wondrous creatures.
Copyright:
2012

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9781439198759
Related ISBNs:
9781439198735
Publisher:
Free Press
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
John Marzluff, Tony Angell
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Reference, Science, Animals, Outdoors and Nature
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

4 out of 5

By on

What fun it was to learn how smart crows and ravens are! I give the authors credit for acknowledging the existence of sentient animals equally as complex and important as humans, albeit different. The evidence of their intelligence, socialism and self awareness is fascinating. It makes me want to start leaving bread in the yard and observing our resident murder of fish crows. Two-thirds of the book was anecdotal stories and experiments, which I loved. The rest was detailed but accessible descriptions of neurobiology and function, which I found boring and skimmed (And I have a degree in neuroscience so you know it's bad). The many illustrations are fun.