{"id":13369,"date":"2013-01-15T14:44:56","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T19:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/?p=13369"},"modified":"2015-06-08T12:23:23","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T16:23:23","slug":"book-review-gifts-of-the-crow-by-john-marzluff-and-tony-angell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/book-review-gifts-of-the-crow-by-john-marzluff-and-tony-angell\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Gifts of the Crow, by John Marzluff and Tony Angell"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><div class=\"article-list list-style alignright\"><h2 class=\"article-list-header\">More From Living Bird<\/h2><ul><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/toc_spread.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/toc_spread-720x329.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/toc_spread-768x351.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/toc_spread-480x219.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/toc_spread.jpg 918w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Spoon-billed Sandpiper by Gerrit Vyn\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Winter 2013\u2014Table of Contents<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird-latest issue\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine\u2014Latest Issue<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-article\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird archives\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine Archives<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n<span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n    <span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" id=\"hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n        <!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]-->\r\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da.png\"  alt=\"subscribe to Living Bird magazine\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\r\n    <\/span>\r\n    <script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script>\r\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n        hbspt.cta.load(95627, '096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da', {});\r\n    <\/script>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Many if not most books about birds deal with their appearance. This quarter, two very different books (<em>Gifts of the Crow<\/em> and <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/page.aspx?pid=2592\">Nature\u2019s Compass<\/a><\/em>) explore the less visible aspects of birds, although one is also a visual delight.<\/p>\n<p><em>Gifts of the Crow<\/em> records the further explorations of the award-winning team of John Marzluff and Tony Angell, and takes us deeper into what Bernd Heinrich called \u201cthe mind of the raven.\u201d The authors state their thesis up front: \u201cThese animals are exceptionally smart\u2026they use their wisdom to infer, discriminate, test, learn, remember, foresee, mourn, warn of impending doom, recognize people, seek revenge, lure or stampede other birds to their death, quaff coffee and beer, turn on lights to stay warm or expose danger, speak, steal, deceive, gift, windsurf, play with cats, and team up to satisfy their appetite for diverse foods, whether soft cheese from a can or a meal of dead seal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is a strong statement considering that most people, even the scientifically sophisticated, tend to think of birds as more hard-wired and instinctual than mammals. But Marzluff and Angell make their case with ease, beginning with a description of how Betty, a New Caledonian Crow, fashions a wire hook to fish a piece of food out of a cylinder where she can see it but not touch it. As they explain, \u201cthis ingenuity\u2014crafting a hook from a foreign material and using it to gain an unreachable reward in a new setting\u2014requires, thinking, appraisal, and planning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The authors do not rely merely on anecdotes, though they tell good stories. The \u201cBirdbrains\u201d chapter analyzes the neurology and evolution of brain power, and there is a detailed chapter on the nature of language. They then examine \u201cdelinquency,\u201d insight, play, emotion, and self-awareness, demonstrating that crows are capable of all. Marzluff and Angell provide examples ranging from the humorous to the poignant to the startling: \u201cThe engine of innovation is the willingness to try something new. Sometimes this can lead crows to smoke and drink.\u201d Play can lead to what the authors call \u201cdelinquency\u201d; I have seen a magpie, a close relative, pull a dog\u2019s tail to distract him while another steals his food. As they entertain you with such anecdotes, they simultaneously educate the reader about tougher concepts: neurons, brain physiology, dopamine.<\/p>\n<p>For example, they explain the neurochemistry of stress: \u201cduring stressful situations, opioid release is suppressed, and the influence of norepinephrine on neurons in the amygdala is less constrained so that more, and possibly different, connections can be made between the amygdala and other brain regions.\u201d And how this becomes sadness: \u201cWe are convinced that crows and ravens gather around their dead because it is important to their own survival that they learn the causes and consequences of another crow\u2019s death. We also suspect that mates and relatives mourn their loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Angell\u2019s illustrations are an integral part of the work, ranging from whimsical to straightforwardly scientific (an appendix of supplemental images makes brain structure clear). Given a choice of what to hang on my wall, I would pick the whimsical. Consider a worried-looking Charles Dickens \u201cconsulting\u201d his raven at his desk; the crow lecturing dogs on the campus at Missoula; the cheerfully gruesome Tasmanian Raven on a roadkill \u201cdevil\u201d; the crow rotating his head to puzzle out the details of a researcher\u2019s upside-down mask.<\/p>\n<p>We seem to be entering (or re-entering) a world where animals can be seen as complex beings. As the authors put it: \u201cOur realization that the nature that we often take for granted includes animals that think and dream, fight and play, reason and take risks, emote and intuit, may be the greatest modern gift of the crow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many if not most books about birds deal with their appearance. This quarter, two very different books (Gifts of the Crow and Nature\u2019s Compass) explore the less visible aspects of<a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/book-review-gifts-of-the-crow-by-john-marzluff-and-tony-angell\/\" title=\"ReadBook Review: Gifts of the Crow, by John Marzluff and Tony Angell\">&#8230; Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc":0,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc_title":"","_birdpress_featured_image":false,"_birdpress_hero_toggle":false,"_birdpress_hero_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_image_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_style":"default","_birdpress_hero_ratio":"","_birdpress_hero_h1":"","_birdpress_hero_media_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_media_array_id":[],"_birdpress_hero_media_array":[],"_birdpress_hero_media":0,"_birdpress_hero_video_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_video":0,"_birdpress_hero_youtube":"","_birdpress_hero_content":true,"_birdpress_hero_byline":"","_birdpress_hero_byline_bottom":"","_birdpress_hero_button_link":"","_birdpress_hero_button_text":"","_birdpress_hero_button_color":"","_birdpress_hero_date":false,"original_guid":"","_birdpress_hide_search":false,"_birdpress_page_width":"","_birdpress_global_cta":false,"_birdpress_widget_sidebar":"","_birdpress_next_article":0,"_birdpress_next_article_title":"","_birdpress_prev_article":0,"_birdpress_prev_article_title":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_sub_navigation":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_title":false,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation":"","_birdpress_postType":"both","_birdpress_categoryID":0,"_birdpress_tagID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostTitle":"","_birdpress_menuID":0,"_birdpress_menuName":"","_birdpress_listHeader":"","_birdpress_listLayout":"card-display","_birdpress_listColumns":"","_birdpress_maxItems":12,"_birdpress_listPaginate":true,"_birdpress_displaySort":true,"_birdpress_sortOrder":"DESC","_birdpress_sortBy":"date","_birdpress_listID":"","_birdpress_listClass":"","_birdpress_displayImages":true,"_birdpress_displayCaptions":false,"_birdpress_displayExcerpts":false,"_birdpress_attTop":"","_birdpress_attBottom":"","_birdpress_showLogos":false,"_birdpress_post_logo":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_topic":0,"wds_primary_content-format":0,"wds_primary_cornell-lab-project":0,"wds_primary_host-project":0,"wds_primary_read-more-tag":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[998,1044],"content-format":[1055],"cornell-lab-project":[1069],"host-project":[],"read-more-tag":[],"class_list":["post-13369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-news-and-features","topic-reviews-news-and-features","content-format-article","cornell-lab-project-living-bird-magazine"],"metadata":{"associated-posts":[""],"wpa_off":[""],"_edit_lock":["1433780831:8"],"_edit_last":["8"],"_thumbnail_id":["13998"],"wdsi_message_id":[""],"wdsi_do_not_show":[""],"custom-byline":["<h5>Reviewed by\u00a0Stephen J. Bodio<\/h5>"],"banner-video":[""],"banner-image":[""],"fallback-videobanner-image":[""],"original_guid":[""],"banner-text-style":["light"],"featured-image-display":["yes"],"_birdpress_next_article":[""],"_birdpress_prev_article":[""],"_webdados_fb_open_graph_specific_image":[""],"dsq_thread_id":["4039435897"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13369"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=13369"},{"taxonomy":"content-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-format?post=13369"},{"taxonomy":"cornell-lab-project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cornell-lab-project?post=13369"},{"taxonomy":"host-project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/host-project?post=13369"},{"taxonomy":"read-more-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/read-more-tag?post=13369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}