Overview

Bird Minds is the first attempt to shine a critical and scientific light on the cognitive behaviour of Australian land birds. Following on from Kaplan's well-received books on the Australian Magpie and the Tawny Frogmouth, Bird Minds demonstrates how intelligent and emotional Australian birds can be. She describes complex behaviours such as grieving, deception, problem solving and the use of tools. Many Australian birds cooperate and defend each other, and exceptional ones go fishing by throwing breadcrumbs in the water, extract poisonous parts from prey and use tools to crack open eggshells and mussels.

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9781486300181

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Reviews

The book covers with competence the most traditional topics of avian intelligence, including nest building, mimicry, tool use, imitation, play, social and vocal learning but also more neglected topics, such as brain and behavioural asymmetries. [...] Overall, the book provides a scholarly but also very enjoyable reading on the intelligence of birds, and should thus be a recommended reading even to non-specialists. - Giorgio Vallortigara1, Centre for Mind and Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy

The book covers with competence the most traditional topics of avian intelligence, including nest building, mimicry, tool use, imitation, play, social and vocal learning but also more neglected topics, such as brain and behavioural asymmetries. [...] Overall, the book provides a scholarly but also very enjoyable reading on the intelligence of birds, and should thus be a recommended reading even to non-specialists. - Giorgio Vallortigara, Centre for Mind and Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy

The book covers with competence the most traditional topics of avian intelligence, including nest building, mimicry, tool use, imitation, play, social and vocal learning but also more neglected topics, such as brain and behavioural asymmetries. [...] Overall, the book provides a scholarly but also very enjoyable reading on the intelligence of birds, and should thus be a recommended reading even to non-specialists. - Giorgio Vallortigara, Centre for Mind and Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy

Author Information

Gisela Kaplan is a Professor at the University of New England, and an Honorary Professor at the Queensland Brain Institute. She is the author of over 250 research articles and 21 books and has conducted groundbreaking research into vocal learning, communication and cognition in birds and other vertebrates. She holds two PhDs and an honorary DSc for her contributions to life sciences. In addition to extensive research on birds in the wild, for the past two decades she has also raised and rehabilitated injured native birds.

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