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21st out of 34 books
—
96 voters
Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans
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 scold...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
June 5th 2012
by Simon & Schuster
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I grew up in middle Georgia where there were many pine trees with birds and squirrels living in these trees. My daddy kept a bag of pecans in the trunk of his car. Every day, he came home from work, whistled, and the birds and squirrels came flying and scampering to him for a free dinner. Some took food from his hands.
One bird my dad did not like was the blue jay. If he saw them eating in the back yard, he would bang on the window trying to scare them off. I wish he was living now, he would enjo...more
One bird my dad did not like was the blue jay. If he saw them eating in the back yard, he would bang on the window trying to scare them off. I wish he was living now, he would enjo...more
“I thought you might find this interesting,” was the comment my librarian wife made as she plunked the book on our kitchen table. It was certainly a book I might not have picked for myself, but ever since I’d acquired a mystical relationship with crows (I refer to them as “my brothers”) I’ve gained a reputation for being able to call them in due to my skill at imitating their calls. One time in Wisconsin I was able to lure in several outside a restaurant and they swarmed noisily overhead in resp...more
I don't normally read a lot of non-fiction, but I was happy to make an exception for this book. I knew crows were smart, but I never realized just how truly intelligent they really are. Right from the beginning, in the very the first chapter, we're given an example of a crow who learned to make and use a tool to retrieve food. I had no idea they could do things like that!
I have a family of four crows that I leave peanuts out for, and I love to watch them as they swoop in to take the peanuts off...more
I have a family of four crows that I leave peanuts out for, and I love to watch them as they swoop in to take the peanuts off...more
This is among the most complete of the many books about corvid intelligence written in the last couple of decades, but it is most innovative in its discussion of anecdotes. The majority of scientists have largely ignored these accounts, and a few have accepted them almost uncritically, but Gifts of the Crow by Marzluff and Angle goes farther than any other in systematically attempting to understand them. This book contains reports of crows that leave gifts to human benefactors, ring doorbells to...more
This book definitely has more neuroscience and anatomy than the authors' previous book, In the Company of Crows and Ravens, but it's still easily understood by a layperson (me). I find it more interesting that all these observations and anecdotes about behaviour in corvids are backed up with explanations, where there currently are any. I also notice and appreciate that the previously held view in animal ethology and biology, the one where anything even remotely seeming like that grave "sin" of a...more
Gifts of the Crow was a great book. I learned a lot about corvid intelligence and the ways they process information. I was surprised by their cognitive complexity and fascinated by the anecdotes. The book was overall engaging and rarely lost my attention. I also thought it was well organized by topic. No chapter felt overly long or unstructured.
I enjoyed the drawings, too. Sometimes the human drawings were not quite to scale or a little off, but overall it added to the stories. I feel like many...more
I enjoyed the drawings, too. Sometimes the human drawings were not quite to scale or a little off, but overall it added to the stories. I feel like many...more
This book is a fascinating look into the minds of the highly intelligent corvid family, primarily describing crows and ravens. I have to admit that while the neuroscience tended to make my eyes glaze over so that I skimmed a lot of it, the science was clearly presented. The authors cover behavior in chapters on language, playing, mischief, awareness, grief and risk taking. The anecdotes and observations alone make the book worth reading. There are crows who leave gifts, ride on bicycle handlebar...more
A nonfiction book I read in two nights is indeed special. This mix of scientific studies and anecdotal information on crows, ravens, and other corvids was absolutely fascinating. I've always known they were clever and I love watching the gang of seven in my yard but recognizing human faces, cars, and pets, using tools to get to other tools to get to food, dropping clams on to a road right before the ferry drops off cars that will be driving over the clams to smash them for easier eating...it's a...more
Mar 23, 2013
Joyce
added it
Whenever you see a crow or raven in the movies, you know some drama is about to go down -- but apparently that can be true in daily life too. Corvids like to play, give gifts, recognize death, murder other birds, and of course steal. A crow researcher and an artist -- there are a LOT of original drawings in the book, which argues against the Kindle edition -- explain a lot of these behaviors with recourse to brain physiology, co-evolution, and evolutionary psychology. Oddly enough, they go prett...more
I got bogged down in chapter two so skipped to the thrid chapter and loved the rest of the book. Fabulous stories about the wit and intelligence of this much maligned Corvine family of birds. A second author is listed on the jacket, Tony Angell. I've met him, a wonderful man and very talented sculptor who has a remarkable pet bird and lends his personal stories to the book. A very interesting read, and I'll look at members of the Corvine Family with a lot more respect and admiration from now on!...more
Although the writing wasn't always first-rate, I enjoyed this book. It opened my eyes to a topic I knew little about, and I'm struck by how much research has been done on the various components of the avian brain. The references listed at the back of the book provide a virtual treasure trove of information for anyone wanting to dig deeper into the topic of corvid behavior and intelligence.
The book made me want to read more about crows and to take notes, either written or by recorded memos on my...more
The book made me want to read more about crows and to take notes, either written or by recorded memos on my...more
Corvids rule.
Oh, the book, right. Those looking merely for anecdotes about the shenanigans of corvids might want to pass this one by, for, although those little stories are here in abundance, this is also a serious scientific book using current neuroscience to explain corvids complex behaviors and unparallelled intelligence. How quickly we move from a crow pulling a turkey's tail to dopamine and k-receptors!
For those that enjoy the science or can persevere, the insights into the bird brain are w...more
Oh, the book, right. Those looking merely for anecdotes about the shenanigans of corvids might want to pass this one by, for, although those little stories are here in abundance, this is also a serious scientific book using current neuroscience to explain corvids complex behaviors and unparallelled intelligence. How quickly we move from a crow pulling a turkey's tail to dopamine and k-receptors!
For those that enjoy the science or can persevere, the insights into the bird brain are w...more
Jun 27, 2012
Heather
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Science peeps, bird lovers
Shelves:
non-fiction
My only beef with this book is the fact that the uber-scientific, left-brain explanations of brain function were a tad hard to follow for this really right-brained individual. I ended up glossing over much of the heavy science because it was hard to make heads or tails of.
That said, I LOVED the stories, anecdotes, and the speculation on Corvid reasoning processes. Utterly fascinating! I am impressed more and more by this family of birds. Truly remarkable. :)
That said, I LOVED the stories, anecdotes, and the speculation on Corvid reasoning processes. Utterly fascinating! I am impressed more and more by this family of birds. Truly remarkable. :)
I learned the neuroscience of the corvidae species of bird. I solved a long held mystery of my childhood. I reccomend this book for anyone that admires birds and has any suspicions or question concerning there intelligence. Don't be afraid of the word amygdala or forebrain, it used throughout if your going to read this gem of science. It is described as comical at times, and in fact it is.
I love corvids so not much of this was news to me. I have worked with them and very much enjoy being around them. This book, though tribute to their smart and inquisitive nature, drags and I found myself skipping pages of deep chemical analysis. I felt like this couldn't decide if it was a scientific or entertainingly text and didn't quite meet the mark for either. Okay fluff but i had hoped for better.
I was hoping to learn a little bit more about the Crow family and overall, I did. But mostly as precented in anecdotes. This book is about the anecdotes, the clinical research on crows and their physiology. Because of the emphasis on the latter, it chopped the book up. No flow, even when I skipped over the scientific talk. I'm sure there is a better book for me out there on tihs topic.
When I picked up this book I wasn't expecting so much brain chemistry to be in it. Though interesting at first, it became more like filler as the book went on since a lot of it was things that "we believe" instead of things that "we know." The first few chapters were a little brain psychology heavy but I enjoyed the anecdotes that were told through the book.
Sep 02, 2012
Diane Kerner
added it
i've known crows in a way that most people do not. this book reveals a much more social, intentional, intelligent and even caring (they mate for life, share upbringing, hold 'funerals') bird. Interesting and amazing. You'll never view a crow the same and, hopefully, will enjoy them rather than simply tolerate them.
This is an amazing book about crows and other Corvid birds. They really are intelligent. They can use tools, they enjoy play, and they can plan ahead. Even more amazing crows can talk! Their memory is excellent, and they recognize familiar people. If you love birds or wildlife in general, read this book!
There were some great stories in here about the whole crow family; crows, ravens, magpies, etc. and I enjoyed those a lot. However, there's also a lot of dry material about how their brains work which is interesting but a bit over done - oh, and the indexes takes up the last 25% of the book
Overall, a good read, but not a great one.
Overall, a good read, but not a great one.
Not as readable as Haupt's Crow Planet, but has a lot more serious science. I'm not sure what I can do with deep information about crow brains and neurology, but I do understand some interesting aspects about which I previously had no clue.
I read this book on my Kindle so the pictures were not too clear and I hadn't expected all the serious scientific information so I sometimes scanned a few pages but what I did read I loved and love knowing more about crows
Great book, enough of the neuroscience to understand the behaviors I see in corvids. I mostly have magpies to observe but reading the book has definitely made watching them more interesting. Wish I had crows in my backyard!
Meh. I was hoping I would like this more than I did. The anecdotes about corvid behavior and inter-species interaction were great, but the book really gets weighed down with thorough neuroscientific analysis of every behavior. Some of it was fairly approachable and understandable for the layman (and quite interesting), but a lot of it was not. If you have a background in psych, neuroscience, or biology you'd probably get more out of some it than I did. That being said, I'd still recommend the bo...more
A fascinating (if at times ponderous) expose on the corvid family. I'm continually amazed by these birds and this book gave me even more to be amazed over. They are far more clever than I even realized.
An odd mix of enthusiastic anecdotes and in depth discussions of brain chemistry. I enjoyed the anecdotes and animal behavior study far more than the talk of dopamines, opioids, and speculation on memory formation.
If I knew more about neuroscience and had a full grasp of the workings of the brain, I'm sure this book would have been more interesting to me. I enjoyed the anecdotal and felt overwhelmed by the scientific.
Mar 05, 2013
Edward Sullivan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adult-nonfiction,
nature
A fascinating and frequently entertaining look at the astonishing intelligence and emotional range of crows and other corvids. A good mix of hard science and anecdotes.
Jul 24, 2012
Monica
added it
Crows and other corvids are the smartest of all birds. This book is well written but has a lot of details about neurobiology that would be only of interest to some.
3.5 stars. Really interesting look at corvids. I have always wanted a crow pet or at least as a friend but local crows are way too skittish to befriend. I put my duck's eggs out for them as hubby is allergic to them and I figure if crows are busy eating the duck eggs, the local songbird eggs might be a bit safer.
Could have wished for more anecdotes about corvids and a little less about the parts of the brain and brain chemicals involved in the various behaviors. I never realized just how intel...more
Could have wished for more anecdotes about corvids and a little less about the parts of the brain and brain chemicals involved in the various behaviors. I never realized just how intel...more
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John Marzluff is assistant professor of wildlife science in the Ecosystem Science and Conservation Division at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is the author of Dog Days, Raven Nights, Urban Ecology, and In the Company of Crows and Ravens.
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Mar 09, 2012 04:46pm