John Marzluff Ph.D. - Gifts of the crow : how perception, emotion, and thought allow smart birds to behave like humans

Praise for Gifts of the Crow

Full of clear and detailed accounts of research... remarkable.

The New York Times

Angell's illustrations of birds are exquisitely detailed... the book will instill in many readers a sense of wonder and curiosity at what these birds can do. An insightful look at some of our surprisingly capable feathered friends.

Kirkus Reviews

Amazing

The Seattle Times

Delightful... a series of intriguing stories and stunning illustrations that together reveal the sophisticated cognitive abilities of crows and their relationship with humans.

Nature

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.

guardian.co.uk

A great read, this book is a tribute to the little-known and underappreciated minds of the birds of the amazing corvid family. Serious and at times hilarious, it pulled me in with its telling anecdotes and scientific context. Most important, it acknowledges and explores the many complex similarities between crows' mental traits and our own.

Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven

In lucid, logical, and articulate prose, the authors carefully explain all the interrelated mechanisms involved in the fascinating behavior patterns of their corvid subjects and how these mechanisms relate to those of humans. Their book is indeed a gift.

Irene M. Pepperberg, author of Alex & Me

Amazing, true stories of crows who rage, grieve, give gifts, work together, and even design and use tools would be enough to make this book a great read. But these maverick scientists go a step further and actually show how these birds' big brains, though different from our own, achieve many of the same feats.

Sy Montgomery, author of Birdology

Stunning examples of crow emotionality and intelligencea triumphant vindication for those who have known all along that animals are capable of much more than they're generally given credit for. Fascinating.

Stacey O'Brien, author of Wesley the Owl

Crows are amazing birds. They're smart, crafty, emotional, inquisitive, and wise, and form complex social relationships with other crows and a wide variety of other animals, including humans. Gifts Of the Crow is a wonderful, informative, and insightful book, well-documented and an easy read. It's the best book to date on these iconic beings.

Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado Boulder, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Wild Justice, and The Animal Manifesto

Throughout much of human history, crows have been our constant companions. In their exciting new book, Marzluff and Angell show us how crows' brains work, while providing the evidence that these cerebral birds have a lot more in common with us than we ever imagined. And Angell's illustrations alone make the book worth the price.

Paul R. Ehrlich, coauthor of The Birder's Handbook

Gifts of the Crow is a compelling book. Filled with wonderful stories of regular people's interactions with ravens, crows, and jays, it also cites engrossing scientific studies, reports on the field work of biologists, and offers detailed explanations of how the brain of a corvid actually works. I was fascinated.

Suzie Gilbert, author of Flyaway: How a Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings

JOHN MARZLUFF, P H D , is Professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington. His research has been the focus of articles in The New York Times, National Geographic, Audubon, Boys Life, The Seattle Times, and National Wildlife. PBSs Nature featured his raven research in its production Ravens and his crow research in the documentary film A Murder of Crows.

TONY ANGELL has authored and/or illustrated a dozen award-winning books related to natural history. Most recently, his drawings in the coauthored book In the Company of Crows and Ravens received the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum illustration prize.

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COPYRIGHT 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER

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Copyright 2012 by John Marzluff, Ph.D. and Tony Angell

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Free Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Free Press hardcover edition June 2012

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Marzluff, John M.

Gifts of the crow : how perception, emotion, and thought allow smart birds to behave like humans / John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. CorvidaePsychology. 2. CorvidaeBehavior. I. Angell, Tony. II. Title.

QL696.P2367M357 2012

598.864dc23 2011049130

ISBN 978-1-4391-9873-5 (print)
ISBN 978-1-4391-9875-9 (eBook)

To crows, so often maligned, and the people whom they engage, so often ignored