Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans [J0197]

2013 - PB Excellent condition. Playful, social, and passionate, crows have brains that are huge for their body size, which allows them to think, plan, and reconsider their actions. They also exhibit an avian kind of eloquence, mate for life, and associate with relatives and neighbors for years. And to people who care for them and feed them, they often give oddly touching gifts in return. The ongoing connection between humans and crows-a cultural coevolution-has shaped both species for millions of years. Scientist John Marzluff teams up with artist-naturalist Tony Angell to tell amazing stories of these brilliant birds. With Marzluff's extraordinary original research on the intelligence and startling abilities of corvids-crows, ravens, and jays-Angell's gorgeous line drawings, and a lively joint narrative, the authors offer an in-depth look at these complex creatures and the traits and behaviors we share, including language, delinquency, frolic, passion, wrath, risk taking, and awareness. Crows gather around their dead, warn of impending doom, recognize people, commit murder of other crows, lure animals to their death, swill coffee and drink beer, design and use tools-including cars as nutcrackers-and windsurf and sled to play. With its abundance of funny, awe-inspiring, and poignant stories, Gifts of the Crow portrays creatures who are nothing short of amazing.

From recent-ish Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "I went into this book really excited, and it's clear right away that John Marzluff and Tony Angell absolutely love corvids. That passion comes through on every page."; "Soooo informative and interesting!! I have always been fascinated with crows and this book taught me so much more about them."; "This book shows corvids (the crow family) have perceptions, emotions, and thinking abilities. It makes it easier for us to accept that they have an equal right to life. His research discusses how the corvid brain works, memory use, and how they learn to survive. There's always something to learn from them.This book invites us to feel deeper about what animals do, and what we do for them."