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Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds (P.S. Series) » (Reprint)

Book cover image of Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds (P.S. Series) by Bernd Heinrich

Authors: Bernd Heinrich
ISBN-13: 9780061136054, ISBN-10: 0061136050
Format: Paperback
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Date Published: May 2007
Edition: Reprint

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Author Biography: Bernd Heinrich

The author of numerous bestselling and award-winning books, Bernd Heinrich is a professor of biology at the University of Vermont. He divides his time between Vermont and the forests of western Maine.

Book Synopsis

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 to read, at once lyrical and scientific.

Scientific American

"With ravens I'm no longer always sure of how to distinguish a simple from a more complex hypothesis, how to know whether all of the ravens' behavior is somehow complexly preprogrammed or whether they know or learn to know what they are doing" [, Heinrich writes.]

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
1Becoming a Raven Father1
2A Field Experiment12
3Ravens in the Family31
4Ringing Necks for Baby Food49
5Education64
6The Fate of Young Ravens73
7Settling in a Home Territory82
8To Catch and Track a Raven92
9Partnerships and Social Webs107
10Pairs as Cooperative Teams and Sharing131
11Hunting and Foraging137
12Adoption146
13Sensory Discrimination155
14Individual Recognition163
15Dangerous Neighbors180
16Vocal Communication191
17Prestige Among Ravens206
18Ravens' Fears216
19Ravens and Wolves in Yellowstone226
20From Wolf-Birds to Human-Birds236
21Tulugaq245
22Caching, Cache-Raiding, and Deception255
23Morality, Tolerance, and Cooperation269
24Play by Ravens280
25Deliberate Acts?295
26Testing Raven Intelligence312
27Brains and Brain Volume325
28Are Ravens Conscious and Emotional?332
29Back to the Wild343
Afterword353
Notes and References357
Index373

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