Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays

Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays by Savage, Candace. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780871563798.

Birds have long been considered the archetypal featherheads, beautiful but dumb. But one group of birds - the corvids, or members of the crow family - appears to have powers of abstraction, memory, creativity, and insight that put them on a par with many mammals, including, in some instances, higher primates. In an original and scrupulously researched text, Candace Savage describes the life and behavior of 16 representative species of corvids that are widely distributed throughout North America and Europe. Drawing on the most recent research, she suggests that the birds may apply their mental powers to such everyday activities as choosing mates, building nests, teaching their young, searching for food, and communicating with each other. In the exciting collection of close-up images, drawn from the work of Erwin and Peggy Bauer, Fred Bruemmer, Tom and Pat Leeson, Leonard Rue III, Jeff Foott, and Antti Leinonen, among other photographers, the birds are often pictured in intimate moments, as they tend their nests, court their partners, assert their dominance, or challenge eagles and other large raptors.