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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Really good information but the pacing is a bit slow and challenging. I feel like it wasn't exactly cohesive but still worth the read.
book #14 of 2020: Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds by Bernd Heinrich. I‰ЫЄve read more than a few evolutionary biology books, but i believe this was my first by an experimental biologist: inventive, fascinating, thoughtful, insightful, and quite enjoyable. 4/5. and now for something completely different....
funny
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
Not a bird watcher, or even dislike ravens/crows? Doesn't matter, this book is worth a read or skim. The author is clearly into his research and the birds. Sometimes his observations turn into ramblings, but the book is surprisingly something that easy to quickly read and get engaged in the stories of the birds.
Learned a lot through this book and now look at corvids very differently and with a lot more respect than before.
Learned a lot through this book and now look at corvids very differently and with a lot more respect than before.
I was skeptical about how much I would enjoy this book, having recently read another of [a:Bernd Heinrich|3350977|Bernd Heinrich|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1303824616p2/3350977.jpg]'s books, [b:Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival|254705|Winter World The Ingenuity of Animal Survival|Bernd Heinrich|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442282009l/254705._SY75_.jpg|246838] which I rated 2 stars. The writing in Winter World was very slow, and inundated with unnecessary jargon that bogged down the flow. I had already agreed to read Heinrich's Mind of the Raven for a buddy read, and corvids fascinate the heck out of me; so I gave Heinrich a second chance.
Mind of the Raven flowed easily like a narrative, in comparison to Winter World, so I found that it was easier for me to become engaged in the story. It is clear that Heinrich has a real passion for studying ravens, and maybe that is why his writing style in this book seemed much more effortless. He wasn't forcing anything to fit his chapters, it just naturally unfurled as he described his theories and ways he tested them on the nestlings he raised over the years.
If you're intrigued by ravens and their behaviors then I would recommend this book to you. Heinrich describes some fascinating observations, and I could clearly picture the scenes as he detailed them. All in all, I enjoyed the book. There wasn't anything truly extraordinary that stood out to me that I'm running to tell my friends about, but it was still captivating.
Mind of the Raven flowed easily like a narrative, in comparison to Winter World, so I found that it was easier for me to become engaged in the story. It is clear that Heinrich has a real passion for studying ravens, and maybe that is why his writing style in this book seemed much more effortless. He wasn't forcing anything to fit his chapters, it just naturally unfurled as he described his theories and ways he tested them on the nestlings he raised over the years.
If you're intrigued by ravens and their behaviors then I would recommend this book to you. Heinrich describes some fascinating observations, and I could clearly picture the scenes as he detailed them. All in all, I enjoyed the book. There wasn't anything truly extraordinary that stood out to me that I'm running to tell my friends about, but it was still captivating.
A book about ravens...one of my favorite birds. A bit dry though and prone to being repetitive.
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.
I'll say the first probably third of this I had a hard time getting dedicated to, thus why it took me so long to read it. However once I finally got to the headspace/it picked up for me I loved it. If you're a bird fan or a fan of animal books I highly recommend this one. The stories and studies that were done with Mr. Heinrich's ravens were absolutely fascinating. I've always heard different tales about the birds but seeing his records of them, as well as seeing where a lot of the characteristics I've heard about them ('wolf birds' for example) may have come from - so good.
3.5 stars, really. Fascinating info overall, but occasionally a bit boring or repetitive.