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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
First of all, this was not a fast read. Detailed documentation of the author's ongoing study of ravens in New England is not always page-turning, but it was nonetheless fascinating. I am not one who needs convincing on the subject of complex intelligence and emotions in non-human animals, but Heinrich's painstaking work using the scientific method is exactly what it takes to make these ideas widely acceptable. The ravens turned out to be more confounding than even he imagined. For every seemingly simple hypothesis he had, his questions were multiplied more than they were answered. The social structure and intricacies of these brainy birds' behaviors is just beginning to be understood. My favorite parts were the description of some of his subjects playing in the snow, and his mention of his wife falling in love with him upon seeing him sharing his oatmeal with his hand-raised raven, Goliath.
I read this book while sometimes feeding a family of ravens. It is a lovely and dedicated study of them and their behaviour. At times I was annoyed when the author centered himself strongly in the book; sometimes it felt like elaborated field notes. But it mhereore than made up for it with the many observations, statistical and anecdotal, and in the end I appreciated how he clearly identified his subjectivity in the process of his many observations, experiments, and collections of other peoples' raven stories. I enjoyed learning about their social dynamics, food caching (as I watched them doing so), interactions with other animals (eg. he found that they didn't attack or fear chickens, generally, but here on the BC coast I know people who've had ravens methodically trick and attack and kill their chickens), with each other, and with humans. Worthwhile for anyone who loves or is intrigued by ravens.
Bernd Heinrich is an American naturalist and a behavioral ecologist. Mind of the Raven is a collection of raven studies based on wild ravens and the author's own hand reared ravens. It covers a wide range of topics from individual ravens to raven's social life, social structure, bonding, nesting and parenting, to how ravens recognize humans and other ravens, to the symbiosis between ravens and wolves and between ravens and human hunters, and to raven intelligence and complex behaviors such as playing, puzzle solving and tool using.
Ravens are smart, social birds, and each raven can show distinct individuality in temperament, behavior and intelligence. Ravens are especially good at picking up visual cues, but not scents. Some ravens can mimic sounds and voices as well as patriots can.
Chapter 26 Testing Raven Intelligence: "It is hardly to be expected that human, animal would be qualitatively different from all others. The psychologists who have studied learning in rats and pigeons have assumed and found similarities across species. If that is anthropomorphizing, I am all for it. There is no evidence to suggest that humans have some new or different, mysterious vital essence that other animals lack."
The audiobook is well-narrated. It would be great that in the future, for a book like this, recordings of sounds (such as raven calls) could be included.
Ravens are smart, social birds, and each raven can show distinct individuality in temperament, behavior and intelligence. Ravens are especially good at picking up visual cues, but not scents. Some ravens can mimic sounds and voices as well as patriots can.
Chapter 26 Testing Raven Intelligence: "It is hardly to be expected that human, animal would be qualitatively different from all others. The psychologists who have studied learning in rats and pigeons have assumed and found similarities across species. If that is anthropomorphizing, I am all for it. There is no evidence to suggest that humans have some new or different, mysterious vital essence that other animals lack."
The audiobook is well-narrated. It would be great that in the future, for a book like this, recordings of sounds (such as raven calls) could be included.
I loved this book! Although I am not normally a reader of science literature, I found myself drawn to this book. Bernd Heinrich drew me in further as I found myself laughing and loving his birds, Goiath, Fuzz and the others as much as he did. Mixed within the illuminating stories was a treasure of information about how a Raven's mind may work. A definate read!
informative
slow-paced
Lovely insight into the world of ravens!
I read this book as research for an essay on corvids. Heinrich gives insight into one of the most prominent species. One of my favorite anecdotes was when a lower-ranking raven burst into song when the dominant ravens left.
I read this book as research for an essay on corvids. Heinrich gives insight into one of the most prominent species. One of my favorite anecdotes was when a lower-ranking raven burst into song when the dominant ravens left.
informative
slow-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I did enjoy this book, mostly for Heinrich's descriptions of specific ravens that he got to know as individuals, though after a point the stories and experiments felt repetitive and unmotivated. By the time the author reached the crux of the book, in which he describes an experiment that 'proves' ravens can act with intelligence, it felt like a bit of an anti-climax.