Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds

"I have lived and breathed ravens since a date I will remember: October 28, 1984. On the afternoon of that day, I was drawn to the commotion of a group of ravens at a moose carcass."These first two sentences of the book set the tone. From this moment on, Heinrich begins to take the reader on a journey of observation and discovery. It is evident throughout the book that Heinrich is fascinated with the behavior of ravens. I could sense his enthusiasm as I continued reading chapter by chapter.Heinrich, a well-known and well-respected biologist, does a superb job of weaving his personal experiences with his captive ravens, observations of wild ravens, and outside research together into a very interesting story. What I like most about this book and really about Heinrich as an author is the fact that he does what all good scientists should do. He uses keen observation skills, asks questions, and then tries to figure out the answers.We could all benefit from sharpening our observation skills. While I do not have many ravens where I live, I see crows all the time. I find that I often take them for granted instead of practicing the skills that Heinrich has mastered. Some of the questions Heinrich raises throughout the book include the following:1. Has the capacity of curiosity allowed the corvids to flourish and diversify? p. 382. Do ravens cooperate with or form symbiotic relationships with hunters? p. 453. Do ravens recognize the difference between their own eggs and foreign eggs? p. 1544. In Yellowstone National Park, are ravens dependent on wolves to overcome their shyness of a large food supply? p. 235Even though one question may lead to more questions, he does not stop asking. Near the conclusion, Heinrich writes, "Throughout my studies, the goal has been to understand the birds' life in their natural environment, which provides context to almost everything about them." Read this book, and you will be inspired to observe organisms in their natural environment.

Author demonstrates Ravens are conscious, intelligent beings with individual personalities. Different than humans, but evolved in ways symbiotic to us. Definitely worth reading!

I have a friend who lives on a remote section of the Northern California coast in a Redwood forest.I was his neighbor for a few years. He had a dog named Raven, when is dog died, and wasburied, a raven came and sat on the headstone placed at the grave, on the day he was buried.My friend said, that from that day onward, the Raven would return to the grave sight and acted as if it waswanting to be friends with my friend. My friend started feeding the Raven and the Raven after a while, would appear onthe front porch at appropriate times to receive snacks. After a period of time, my friend, taught the Ravento say Hello. He told me this story and I thought, well, that certainly is possible I suppose.One day when I was at my tool shed, a Raven flew into the Redwood branches above me and beganmaking a sound as it was leaning forward and looking down at me from the branch it was on, and wasmaking these gurgling, warbling throat hackling sounds. This Raven just kept sitting there, looking at me,and it seemed, was attempting to 'say something'. As I listened more closely, I was convinced that thisbird was in fact trying to say Hello. The sounds made were coarse, and deep throated, and this birdkept repeating the same sounds, again and again. This Raven was saying 'Hello', as I watched andlistened more intently, I was completely convinced that it was saying hello, although, rather coarseand dry throated, never-the-less, it was indeed a Hello.The Raven returned for two more days, and was repeating the same process. This Raven would evenfollow behind where I was going, and kept bobbing, and squeaking out 'Hello' the best that it could. Myfriend had not seen the Raven for some time, and when I told him what had happened, he commented,"well, his Raven friend had not been around for the last year or so, and he had not seen or heard itanywhere". So, my friend said, "maybe 'his bird friend' had forgotten how to say hello, because when thisbird was around, and when it did say 'Hello', it was very clear, and far different than the broken andscrambled voice that I had been hearing." I often wonder if this Raven had attempted to speak to othersup on the ridge-line of the Redwood Coast."Spoke the Raven-nothing more" ............

Brilliantly written , with great precision and care, to bring the reader along, on this amazing, beautiful journey. Wish I could have attended the recent talk at Hinckley Campus...here in Maine

I love this book! I'm an avid raven observer and this book is my go-to reference for context of what I am seeing in the wild. It's packed with incredible detail and descriptions of how Heinrich tests his different theories about raven behavior, mostly in the Maine woods. He even becomes a "raven parent" to find out about what are acquired and what are instinctual raven behaviors. If you are interested in animal behavior and want to know how an observational and experimental behavioral biologist works, you'll enjoy this book. It's also full of Heinrich's own interactions and relationships with various raven friends, and other avian researchers around the world. I've ordered copies for friends who are interested in ravens because I can't bear to be without my Mind of the Raven within reach! I've read other Heinrich books, which I've also really enjoyed, including The Snoring Bird, Ravens in Winter, One Man's Owl (also LOVED that one - but I'm also an owl observer!), The Homing Instinct, and Winter World. If you like to know the story behind the scenes of figuring out the meaning of animal behavior, this book is for you!

She enjoyed receiving this gift.

In short: If you are curious about real life with ravens, specially if you life in area with ravens, this is the book. This is not for "fast reading", text is small and not organized for "read it and know all about it in 8 hours". I love it.

A wonderful, amazing book, originally recommended by the author of another book on Ravens - Chris, the Raven Master at the Tower of London. If you love bird-watching and want to know why our feathered companions behave the way they do, this book tells you some of the answers with huge love and respect for animals that Heinrich has studied for decades. Strangely, the book helps you to understand human behaviour too. His discovery of the symbiotic link between Ravens and Wolves or surrogate wolves (dogs, bears and humans) is a fabulous piece of research. Everything is connected, and as a conservationist, it gives me great hope that we can re-educate people to open their eyes and start acknowledging these connections, instead of micro-managing a planet we hardly know. The world is a much more delicately interconnected and deeply interwoven place than we can see at a glance. It's time we all stopped and stared more.

livre anglophone broché à couverture cartonnée souple moyen format ancien (1999) consacré à l'intelligence du corbeau;après une courte introduction, l'auteur, Bernd Heinrich, professeur de biologie américain mais aussi passionné d'oiseaux a adopté et vécu avec des grands corbeaux (Corvus corax) et nous livre ses observations dans 29 chapitres d'un texte clair très peu illustré (quelques gravures et photos n&b)01: devenir un père-corbeau (11 pages)02: une expérimentation de terrain (19 pages)03: des corbeaux dans la famille (18 pages)04: pots pour bébés (15 pages)05: éducation (9 pages)06: destin d'un jeune corbeau (9 pages)07: mettre en place un territoire (10 pages)08: pistage et capture de corbeau (15 pages)09: partenariats et réseaux sociaux (14 pages)10: partage et coopération dans le couple (6 pages)11: chasse et nourrissage (9 pages)12: adoption (9 pages)13: discrimination sensorielle (8 pages)14: reconnaissance individuelle (17 pages)15: voisins dangereux (11 pages)16: communication vocale (15 pages)17: prestige chez les corbeaux (10 pages)18: frayeurs de corbeau (10 pages)19: des corbeaux et des loups à Yellowstone (10 pages)20: de l'oiseau-loup à l'homme-corbeau (9 pages)21: Tulugaq (10 pages)22: cachettes, pillages et subterfuges (14 pages)23: moralité, tolérance et coopération (11 pages)24: le jeu selon les corbeaux (15 pages)25: actes délibérés? (17 pages)26: Tests de QI pour corbeaux (13 pages)27: cerveaux et volume cérébral (7 pages)28: conscience et émotions chez les corbeaux (9 pages)29: retour à la nature (10 pages)cet ouvrage absolument passionnant enthousiasmera tous les amateurs d'oiseaux et d'animaux en remmettant en cause bien des certitudes sur la supériorité de l'homme; si vous avez trouvé ce commentaire utile merci de cliquer ci-dessous:

Me ha parecido bastante entretenido de leer y aporta algunos datos sobre la inteligencia de las aves que me han resultado bastante interesantes. Lo recomiendo.