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Mind of the Raven

Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds

Audiobook
1 of 2 copies available
1 of 2 copies available
Bernd Heinrich involves us in his quest to get inside the mind of the raven. But as animals can only be spied on by getting quite close, Heinrich adopts ravens, thereby becoming a "raven father," as well as observing them in their natural habitat. He studies their daily routines, and in the process, paints a vivid picture of the ravens' world. At the heart of this book are Heinrich's love and respect for these complex and engaging creatures, and through his keen observation and analysis, we become their intimates too.
Heinrich's passion for ravens has led him around the world in his research. Mind of the Raven follows an exotic journey—from New England to Germany, and from Montana to Baffin Island in the high Arctic—offering dazzling accounts of how science works in the field, filtered through the eyes of a passionate observer of nature. Each new discovery and insight into raven behavior is thrilling, at once lyrical and scientific.
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    • AudioFile Magazine
      The calls of ravens even enter Bernd Heinrich's dreams. As he studies the four ravens he adopted, the Maine scientist comes to consider them individuals who make conscious choices. Narrator Norman Dietz infuses his reading with Heinrich's curiosity and pride toward his birds as he delves into how ravens communicate and interact with each other and with other creatures, including wolves and humans. A gentle sense of humor comes through in the anecdotes, as when he tells of friends who keep a raven in the house or ravens who experience a mirror. These moments keep one listening through the author's research activities such as measuring raven skulls and watching them at "meat piles." Heinrich's writing entertains as he builds the case that the big brains of ravens are well used. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 3, 1999
      In a book that demonstrates the rewards of caring and careful observation of the natural world, Heinrich (Ravens in Winter, etc.), a noted biologist, Guggenheim fellow and National Book Award nominee (for Bumblebee Economics, 1979), explores the question of raven intelligence through observation, experiment and personal experience. Although he has raised many ravens through the years (beginning with a tame pair that shared his apartment at UCLA in the 1960s), Heinrich focuses much of his attention on four nestlings he adopted from the Maine woods near his home. As he describes tending to the demanding babies, chopping up roadkill, cleaning up after them and enduring their noisy calls for food, readers will marvel at how much Heinrich knows and at how much joy he derives from acquiring that knowledge. As the birds mature, Heinrich details how these and other ravens feed, nest, mate, play and establish a society with clear hierarchical levels. At its best, his writing is distinguished by infectious enthusiasm, a lighthearted style and often lyrical descriptions of the natural world. His powers of observation are impressive and his descriptions--of how a raven puffs its feathers in a dominance display, of how a female calls for food from her mate, of the pecking order at a carcass--are formidably precise. Toward the end of the book, Heinrich addresses the question implied by the title: To what degree can ravens be said to think? His answer: "I suspect that the great gulf or discontinuity that exists between us and all other animals is... ultimately less a matter of consciousness than of culture." Illustrations.

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  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

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  • English

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