Crow Smarts: Inside the Brain of the World’s Brightest Bird by Pamela S. Turner (review)

The Scientists in the Field series heads south to follow the work of Gavin Hunt, who studies crow intelligence on the South Sea island of New Caledonia; author Turner joins scientist Hunt to witness the tool-using, problem-solving behavior of the New Caledonian crows. Unique in the bird world, the New Caledonian crows adapt twigs into useful shapes for pulling grubs out of trees, and Turner watches a crow parent attempting to teach a young crow this important skill. She also visits a research facility that tests the local crows’ problem-solving abilities (and scores them against elementary-school-aged human children). Turner’s voice has a quippy irreverence that occasionally tilts too far to the flippant but is often pretty amusing, especially in her absorbing explanation of of crow family dynamics; the book also pulls together a wide variety of research on crow behaviors and weaves it seamlessly into the narrative. Detailed sidebars and lively photographs of shiny, bright-eyed crows break up the text while adding interest, and illustrated explanations of crow behavior are illuminating. End matter includes an index, a lively Q&A with the author, who participates in wild bird rescue in the U.S., and an erudite bibliography of mostly academic publications.