Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays [Paperback]

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 Brainspresents 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.

Candace Savageis the author of more than two dozen books, includingA Geography of Blood, which won the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, andCrows: Encounters with the Wise Guys of the Avian World.

A new edition of Candace Savage's bestseller with a new forward by the author

More than 50,000 copies of all editions of Bird Brains sold worldwide

Savage’s hypnotic, intimate lens takes us so close to tl3ã