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

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.

Stan Coren's groundbreaking The Intelligence of Dogs meets Bernd Heinrich's classic Mind of the Raven in this astonishing, thrilling look at the uncanny intelligence and emotions of crows.

John Marzluff is a professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington. His books include In the Company of Crows and Ravens, coauthored with Tony Angell, which won the Washington State Book Award for general nonfiction, and Dog Days, Raven Nights, coauthored with his wife, Colleen. He has led studies on the effects of military training on falcons and eagles in southwestern Idaho, the effects of timber harvest, recreation, and forest fragmentation on goshawks and marbled murrelets in western Washington and Oregon, conservation strategies for Pacific Island crows, and the effects of urbanization on songbirds in the Seattle area. John has authored over 120 scientific papers on various aspects of bird behavior and wildlife management. He is currently leader of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Recovery Team for the critically endangered Mariana Crow, a member of the Washington Biodiversity Council, and a fellow of the American Ornithologist's Union. Author, illustrator, and sculptor, Tony Angell 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. Danny Campbell's regional acting credits include the Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Utah Shakespearean Festival, the Vermont Stage, Stage West, the Mint Theatre in New York City, and six years with the Independent Shakespeare Company in Los Angeles. His favorite roles include Falstaff, Bottom, Launce, and the Porter. He has appeared in CBS's The Guardian, the recent films A Pool, a Fool, and a Duel and Greater Than Gravity, and over twenty-five commercials. He is also a member of the adjunct faculty in the theatre arts department at Santa Monica College. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, Danny has recently narrated the audiobook Once a Spy by Keith Thomson, and he read the part of David Foster Wallace in Mike Lipsky's Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself.