Internationally celebrated nature writer Candace Savage presents the
Corvid family-- surprisingly bright, brassy, and colorful birds--in a
remarkable collection of full-color, close-up photographs by some of the
world's best wildlife photographers.
Birds have long been viewed as the archetypal featherbrains--beautiful
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.
