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Nature Birdwatching Guides

Crows

Encounters with the Wise Guys of the Avian World

by (author) Candace Savage

Publisher
Greystone Books Ltd
Initial publish date
Sep 2005
Category
Birdwatching Guides
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781553651062
    Publish Date
    Sep 2005
    List Price
    $19.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781771640855
    Publish Date
    May 2015
    List Price
    $21.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781926812427
    Publish Date
    Sep 2005
    List Price
    $14.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781553652861
    Publish Date
    Mar 2007
    List Price
    $19.95

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Out of print

This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.

Description

Who would have guessed that crows are second only to humans as toolmakers and tool users, that they have complex family lives surprisingly similar to our own, and that their vocalizations share much in common with human languages?

Sparky and fun-loving in tone, this celebration of crow consciousness discusses the basic biology of crows, as well as their family structure, tricky social interactions, communication skills, incredible tool-using capabilities, and impact on the human imagination. Based on more than a decade of audacious research by scientists around the world, Crows is rich in insight, humor, and stories.

About the author

Candace Savage is the author of numerous internationally acclaimed books on subjects ranging from natural history and science to popular culture. She is the author of the best-selling natural history titles Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies and Jays and Prairie: A Natural History, for which she won two Saskatchewan Book Awards and a Gold Medal from ForeWord Magazine in 2004. She is also a frequent contributor to numerous periodicals, including Canadian Geographic. She lives in Saskatoon, SK.

Candace Savage's profile page

Editorial Reviews

Crows celebrates crow abilities, surveying their behavior, natural history, and more. . . . a most digestible, intriguing survey. —James Cox, Midwest Book Review

The combination of Savage's accessibility, the sheer depth of her research, the slight anthropomorphism, and the sparkling quality of her writing do more than explain the world of the corvine family. There's a startling intimacy to this literary encounter, from which most readers are likely to emerge well educated, informed, and curiously changed. That's a keen accomplishment for little more than 100 pages. —Quill & Quire

Savage, who also describes her avian subjects as sophisticated, fascinating and beautiful, is so intrigued by corvid behaviour that Crows is her second book on the subject. —Diane Dakers, Victoria Times-Colonist

Part of the joy of reading Crows . . . is the iconoclastic energy it draws from busting myths about birds in general and crows in particular . . . surprising avian revelations are contained within the pages of Savage's glorious festival of crow arcana. —Clem Martini, Alberta Views Magazine

Candace Savage's Crows is a beautifully crafted celebration of these birds . . . she . . . uses every opportunity to introduce sound evolutionary and ecological concepts, including good descriptions of recent research on crow communication, breeding biology and . . . ecology. —Alex Kacelink, Nature Magazine

Candace Savage's Crows is a beautifully crafted celebration of these birds. —Nature Magazine

ìThis is a readable piece of popular nature writing, accessible because of a deft juxtaposition of interesting anecdotes and firsthand accounts of scientific discoveries. —Canadian Literature

Savage, who also describes her avian subjects as sophisticated, fascinating and beautiful, is so intrigued by corvid behaviour that Crows is her second book on the subject. —Victoria Times Columnist

Nature writer Savage celebrates crows—and provides a lot of information about them—in this lovely little book. —Globe & Mail

Crows celebrates crow abilities, surveying their behavior, natural history, and more . . . a most digestible, intriguing survey. —Midwest Book Review

Threaded through the scientific studies and anecdotal accounts are corvine folk-tales and mythology . . . The combination of Savage's accessibility, the sheer depth of her research, the slight anthropomorphism, and the sparkling quality of her writing do more than explain the world of the corvine family. There's a startling intimacy to this literary encounter, from which most readers are likely to emerge well educated, informed, and curiously changed. That's a keen accomplishment for little more than 100 pages. —Robert Wiersema, Quill & Quire

Savage has compiled Crows, a handsome and charming compendium of facts, fables, research, photos and illustrations about the corvine world, which makes for delightful, offbeat reading. —Stewart Brown, The Hamilton Spectator

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