Bird Brains

Internationally celebrated nature writer Candace Savage presents the Corvid family—surprisingly bright, brassy, and colourful birds—in a remarkable collection of full-colour, close-up photographs by some of the world's best wildlife photographers.

Birds have long been viewed as the archetypal featherbrains—beautiful but dumb. However, according to naturalist Candace Savage, the term "bird brain" 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. 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 colourful birds through a remarkable collection of full-colour, close-up photographs by some two dozen of the world's best wildlife photographers. Savage's lively, authoritative text describes the life and behaviour of sixteen representative corvid species that inhabit North America and Europe.

Drawing on recent research, she describes birds that recognise 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.