Gifts of the Crow, Tony Angell
Gifts of the Crow, Tony Angell
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Gifts of the Crow
How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans

Author: Tony Angell, John Marzluff

Narrator: Danny Campbell

Unabridged: 8 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/05/2012

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

New research indicates that crows are among the brightest animals in the world. And professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington John Marzluff has done some of the most extraordinary research on crows, which has been featured in The New York Times, National Geographic, and the Chicago Tribune, as well as on NPR and PBS. Now he teams up with artist and fellow naturalist Tony Angell to offer an in-depth look at these incredible creatures—in a book that is brimming with surprises.

Redefining the notion of "bird brain," crows and ravens are often called feathered apes because of their clever tool-making and their ability to respond to environmental challenges, including those posed by humans. Indeed, their long lives, social habits, and large complex brains allow them to observe and learn from us and our social gatherings. Their marvelous brains allow crows to think, plan, and reconsider their actions. In these and other enthralling revelations, Marzluff and Angell portray creatures that are nothing short of amazing: they play, bestow gifts on people who help or feed them, use cars as nutcrackers, seek revenge on animals that harass them, are tricksters that lure birds to their deaths, and dream. The authors marvel at crows' behavior that we humans would find strangely familiar, from delinquency and risk taking to passion and frolic. A testament to years of painstaking research, this riveting work is a thrilling look at one of nature's most wondrous creatures.

About Tony Angell

Tony Angell, an author, illustrator, and sculptor, has won numerous writing and artistic awards for his work on behalf of nature, including the prestigious Master Artist Award of the Leigh Yawkey Art Museum. He has published a number of books, principally about the birds of the Northwest, including Owls, Ravens, Crows, Magpies and Jays, and Marine Birds and Mammals of Puget Sound. His sculptural forms celebrating nature are to be found in public and private collections throughout the country. Tony has worked actively as a board member of Washington's chapter of the Nature Conservancy, is an elected fellow of the National Sculpture Society, and retired in 2002 as Director of Environmental Education for the state of Washington after thirty years. He lives in Seattle with his wife and two daughters.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lynne on October 01, 2016

I live in the foothills of the Pyrenean mountain range in the Pays Basque (evidently in English it is the Basque Country which doesn’t do it justice) in south-west France. This is an area of outstanding beauty that I will never tire of. I get no greater pleasure than sitting on my terrace either on......more

Goodreads review by Persephone's Pomegranate on January 29, 2023

A lovely book about members of the Corvidae family.......more

Goodreads review by Bibliovoracious on February 12, 2019

I love crows. These guys pound the science pavement to back up what we know anecdotally - corvids are smart, scary smart - and give proofs for how and why their brains function remarkably similar to ours. I like it when writers give shape and vocabulary to something I vaguely “know” or believe: we h......more

Goodreads review by Gary on January 01, 2013

“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......more