The Minds of Birds (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series) - Softcover

Skutch, Alexander F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0890967598 ISBN 13: 9780890967591

Publisher: Texas A & M Univ Pr, 1997

Synopsis

Book by Skutch, Alexander F.

About this title

Review:

Do birds have emotions? Do they play? Do they remember? Alexander Skutch, one of the deans of contemporary ornithology, answers in the affirmative in this anecdotal, genial look at avian intelligence. Birds have long memories, he suggests, citing as evidence a garden thrush that came to visit him year after year, even recognizing him when he donned a particularly silly disguise. They can also use tools, feel attachment to other birds and humans, and communicate information of various kinds to one another. Not all that birds do, Skutch writes, speaks to their genius (one chapter is entitled "Apparently Stupid Behavior"), but their actions suggest a surprising depth of knowledge and ability. Birders will treasure his insights. --Gregory McNamee

From the Back Cover:

In this controversial culmination of a lifelong quest, Alexander F. Skutch, a well-known ornithologist who has studied birds for more than sixty years, makes a case for "believing that birds' mental capacities have been grossly underestimated". Lacking hard scientific proofs of what birds think and feel, we are left, Skutch argues, with inferences gleaned from observation of their behavior. His intimate, six-decade study of tropical and north temperate birds and his wide survey of the literature inform this remarkable review of the psychic life of birds. Although varying widely by species, many birds have a striking ability to recognize as individuals not only other birds of their own kind (which all look alike to humans), but also familiar humans, even after a long absence. They have good memories and give indications of forethought. Only humans take more elaborate care of their offspring than most birds do, and few animals of any kind live in such closely united families as those of cooperatively breeding birds, which carefully avoid incest. The diverse play of birds suggests their capacity for enjoyment. They can be taught to count up to eight, and some are known to use tools. The tastefully adorned constructions of bower birds and the songs of many other species also point strongly to an aesthetic sense. The journeys of migrants between known breeding and wintering territories separated by thousands of miles speak of memory and navigational skills that baffle human observers. Birders and behaviorist ornithologists alike will find Skutch's work provocative and rewarding - no more easily dismissed than the apparently purposeful behavior of the birds he describes. A timely and usefulcontribution to the debate on animal intelligence, this book offers - with precision, force, clarity, and a wide range of examples - a challenge to the long-standing mechanistic view of nonhuman life.

About this edition

• Publisher: Texas A & M Univ Pr
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0890967598
• ISBN 13: 9780890967591
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200
• Illustrator: Gardner Dana