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Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series
The Minds of Birds
Book by Skutch, Alexander F.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
4 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Alexander F. Skutch
56 books9 followersDoctor Alexander Frank Skutch was a naturalist and writer. He published numerous scientific papers and books about birds and several books on philosophy. He is best remembered for his pioneering work on helpers at the nest. Skutch wrote over 40 books and over 200 papers on ornithology, preferring a descriptive style and eschewing statistics and even banding.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 3, 2019
The last short chapter, "Summary and Conclusions," is enough to grasp the gist of the argument, and so is all one needs to read. But the rest is all supportive, and is what one *wants* to read. Lots and lots of fascinating anecdotes & discussions, chosen as the most scientifically rigorous of all the experience that Skutch accumulated from a lifetime of observations, discussions, and readings.
The thrust of the argument is that all birds are at least somewhat more intelligent than we've generally given them credit for, and their sentience and self-awareness are worthy of much further study. (Great Tits seem to be amazingly intelligent, and yet, before reading this book, I had never heard of their talents, and would not have guessed so.)
"It is not evident why anthropomorphism, respectable in comparative anatomy, should be rigidly excluded from comparative psychology."
"Now that field naturalists are becoming aware of the survival value of dissimulation by the active minds of birds, more subtle instances of deceit are being investigated." (It's not just the broken-wing trick of the Killdeer... we should fund studies and learn more....)
In the chapter "Homing and Migration" an effective argument is made for the claim that hummingbirds, tanagers, warblers, vireos, and other "summer residents are tropical birds that go north to breed, not, as was once thought, northern birds that fly south to escape winter's chill."
"We have no reason to believe that parrots are exceptionally intelligent birds.... Long-lived, readily domesticated parrots are exceptionally favorable subjects for the study of avian intelligence...."
The thrust of the argument is that all birds are at least somewhat more intelligent than we've generally given them credit for, and their sentience and self-awareness are worthy of much further study. (Great Tits seem to be amazingly intelligent, and yet, before reading this book, I had never heard of their talents, and would not have guessed so.)
"It is not evident why anthropomorphism, respectable in comparative anatomy, should be rigidly excluded from comparative psychology."
"Now that field naturalists are becoming aware of the survival value of dissimulation by the active minds of birds, more subtle instances of deceit are being investigated." (It's not just the broken-wing trick of the Killdeer... we should fund studies and learn more....)
In the chapter "Homing and Migration" an effective argument is made for the claim that hummingbirds, tanagers, warblers, vireos, and other "summer residents are tropical birds that go north to breed, not, as was once thought, northern birds that fly south to escape winter's chill."
"We have no reason to believe that parrots are exceptionally intelligent birds.... Long-lived, readily domesticated parrots are exceptionally favorable subjects for the study of avian intelligence...."
Displaying 1 of 1 review