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Bird Minds: Cognition and Behaviour of Australian Native Birds
Bird Minds provides a fresh view of the behavior of Australian native avifauna, presenting a portrait of cognitive well-equipped species, which is somewhat removed from the traditional image of birds as fluttering, colorful ornaments that tend to move like automata.
The book will focus on the specific abilities of Australian birds, examining why they have had to find – largely cognitive – ways of adapting to difficult conditions. The demands of the Australian environment have led to the development of cognitively complex processes that are unique in the world, including complex behaviors 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.
The book will focus on the specific abilities of Australian birds, examining why they have had to find – largely cognitive – ways of adapting to difficult conditions. The demands of the Australian environment have led to the development of cognitively complex processes that are unique in the world, including complex behaviors 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.
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 3, 2015
17 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 20, 2017
A superb book. It's going on to my favourites shelf in GR. The actual book is still in print so I have my own copy to keep on my actual shelves, dozens of little yellow stickies poking out to mark points I specially want to remember.
We live in the Adelaide Hills, in a semi-bush land environment where many native birds live - rosella parrots, galahs, two species of cockatoo, finches, honey eaters, tree creepers, bronze wing pigeons and a resident family of magpies.
We have a seed feeder close to the verandah and can watch the birds close up every day. It's wonderful. I didn't know before that magpies eat seed but they do, as well as pellets of dried dog food or scraps from a fresh bone if they get the chance, which has led to rival claims for mastery of the back lawn between the senior male magpie and our dog.
Kaplan spends quite a bit of space on various aspects of bird communication and social behavior and it was fascinating to be able to relate what I was reading to what we see from our windows.
Song birds (passerines) evolved in Australia. Kaplan frequently expresses frustration that there is so little international recognition of Australian research on Australian birds, and notes that there are many gaps in knowledge waiting to be researched. Nevertheless, there is enough to show that many species are very clever indeed, have a sense of fun, long memories, complex social lives, some appear to be able to think conceptually and some use tools. Wonderful stuff!
She's a scientist, not a journalist, and her writing style is serious, but if you're seriously interested in birds this is essential reading.
We live in the Adelaide Hills, in a semi-bush land environment where many native birds live - rosella parrots, galahs, two species of cockatoo, finches, honey eaters, tree creepers, bronze wing pigeons and a resident family of magpies.
We have a seed feeder close to the verandah and can watch the birds close up every day. It's wonderful. I didn't know before that magpies eat seed but they do, as well as pellets of dried dog food or scraps from a fresh bone if they get the chance, which has led to rival claims for mastery of the back lawn between the senior male magpie and our dog.
Kaplan spends quite a bit of space on various aspects of bird communication and social behavior and it was fascinating to be able to relate what I was reading to what we see from our windows.
Song birds (passerines) evolved in Australia. Kaplan frequently expresses frustration that there is so little international recognition of Australian research on Australian birds, and notes that there are many gaps in knowledge waiting to be researched. Nevertheless, there is enough to show that many species are very clever indeed, have a sense of fun, long memories, complex social lives, some appear to be able to think conceptually and some use tools. Wonderful stuff!
She's a scientist, not a journalist, and her writing style is serious, but if you're seriously interested in birds this is essential reading.
June 29, 2017
This is quite a scholarly piece, lots of references to studies and papers, scientific terms and taxonomies. Hidden between the technical are some real gems on the behaviour of various bird species and how they mate, cooperate, feed, nest, adapt, vocalise, learn and socialise. So I learnt that the size of the brain does not matter (so the derogatory term bird-brain is no longer relevant), song birds originate in Gondwana, and birds are so more complex and adaptable then I had thought.
October 1, 2016
This is a solid work of scholarship but also contains much personal experience and observation. The author is a renowned expert on bird behaviour and is also expert in nursing and rehabilitating injured wild birds. I knew birds were a great deal smarter than they are credited to be, but I learned a lot about just how clever many of them are from this book.
I shall watch them with even more fascination from now on.
I shall watch them with even more fascination from now on.
March 15, 2023
So so amazing, in depth and eye opening.
June 19, 2017
My husband and I are a bit nutty about our local birds and we live in Victoria, Australia; so we find Gisela Kaplan's books a pleasure to read. They are scholarly without being dry and beautifully presented. Birds are so much more fascinating and intelligent than many or perhaps most people suppose, and some of our Australian birds are the brightest of the bright, with quite complex songs and social arrangements. I highly recommend both Bird Minds and The Australian Magpie.
August 27, 2017
When I finished this ebook, I went straight and bought the physical book. Not because there is anything wrong with the ebook, which is well done, but because this book is just that good. In particular, Kaplan includes a wonderful summary organised by type of bird at the end, making this highly sciency account also really useful for refreshing your memory while birdwatching.
Australian birds are pretty amazing, and Kaplan takes us through why and how they are so amazing with methodical, referenced thoroughness. She moves through the various traits we tend to lump together under intelligence: communication & collaboration; tool use; problem solving etc. and discusses various species along the way.
Kaplan's love for Australian birds - especially her beloved maggies - comes through loud and clear, making this is a nice book to read surrounded by birdsong. A magpie flew down to tease my cat while I was curled up on the outside couch reading this, and was wonderful to read how typical such behaviour is.
As Kaplan points, in a tone that does not lack grumpiness, Australian birds are not well understood in comparison to the European cousins. This is unfortunate because it appears most likely birds substantially evolved in the land mass that evolved into Australia, and we host many more, and diverse, species than the North. Kaplan goes on to demonstrate the creativity and flexibility of local species problem solving, raising real implications for understanding how cognition works. For most of the last few hundred years, it was considered ok to study a few species in depth and generalise from there to similar species, but as Kaplan indicates, this means we think we know far more than we, in reality, do know. This book could be controversial, but the strong references, including to local research and recordings, protect some of Kaplan's bolder claims. The result is well-presented, justified and explained science. It can be dry at times, and her phrasing can be awkward, requiring a few reads at a sentence to be sure what is meant. This are minor complaints, however.
Part of the wonder of this and several other books I've been reading lately, is realising how much more there is to the world just in front of us, if only we were willing to look at what is in front of us. In Australia, we are blessed with rich ecosystems, mostly balanced delicately for a climate which races to extremes. We have such a legacy of scientific method and understanding, but for all that, very little research beyond the same paths trod in the same parts of the world. With the development of research assisted by computer power, DNA testing, brain mapping, and simply collaboration by researchers able to search millions of articles, means this might be changing and some of our fundamental assumptions along with it.
Australian birds are pretty amazing, and Kaplan takes us through why and how they are so amazing with methodical, referenced thoroughness. She moves through the various traits we tend to lump together under intelligence: communication & collaboration; tool use; problem solving etc. and discusses various species along the way.
Kaplan's love for Australian birds - especially her beloved maggies - comes through loud and clear, making this is a nice book to read surrounded by birdsong. A magpie flew down to tease my cat while I was curled up on the outside couch reading this, and was wonderful to read how typical such behaviour is.
As Kaplan points, in a tone that does not lack grumpiness, Australian birds are not well understood in comparison to the European cousins. This is unfortunate because it appears most likely birds substantially evolved in the land mass that evolved into Australia, and we host many more, and diverse, species than the North. Kaplan goes on to demonstrate the creativity and flexibility of local species problem solving, raising real implications for understanding how cognition works. For most of the last few hundred years, it was considered ok to study a few species in depth and generalise from there to similar species, but as Kaplan indicates, this means we think we know far more than we, in reality, do know. This book could be controversial, but the strong references, including to local research and recordings, protect some of Kaplan's bolder claims. The result is well-presented, justified and explained science. It can be dry at times, and her phrasing can be awkward, requiring a few reads at a sentence to be sure what is meant. This are minor complaints, however.
Part of the wonder of this and several other books I've been reading lately, is realising how much more there is to the world just in front of us, if only we were willing to look at what is in front of us. In Australia, we are blessed with rich ecosystems, mostly balanced delicately for a climate which races to extremes. We have such a legacy of scientific method and understanding, but for all that, very little research beyond the same paths trod in the same parts of the world. With the development of research assisted by computer power, DNA testing, brain mapping, and simply collaboration by researchers able to search millions of articles, means this might be changing and some of our fundamental assumptions along with it.
January 13, 2019
Strictly one for serious bird enthusiasts, the book is written by a double PHD and Australian expert in bird cognition, and presents the current state of research into bird intelligence and emotion. It is densely referenced and researched, bringing together much of the current state of research and informed by the author's own decades of avian research as well as her experiences in wildlife rescue & rehabilitation. A fascinating look at how birds think, and the rapidly changing scientific understanding and consensus. It is written for the layman, but you'll want to focus... that said, it is accessible enough to anyone with a real interest in birds and is full of fascinating behaviours, research and theories. You'll never dismiss anyone as a bird-brain again.
November 27, 2023
Interesting... I really liked the anecdotes about bird behaviour, it's pretty incredible the sophistication displayed by our backyard buddies (e.g. magpies!) and others.
I didn't really like the attempts to link it with "intelligence" in the sense that it's a terribly indeterminate concept (for some reason we still think it's a hierarchy with humans ranked at the top). Attempts to link brain size to it + evolutionary reasons also felt a bit far fetched to me. Just let birds be birds! If intelligence means cognitive adaptability then I think every species that has survived so far on this Earth is frankly intelligent enough, having done so by exploiting their niches.
I didn't really like the attempts to link it with "intelligence" in the sense that it's a terribly indeterminate concept (for some reason we still think it's a hierarchy with humans ranked at the top). Attempts to link brain size to it + evolutionary reasons also felt a bit far fetched to me. Just let birds be birds! If intelligence means cognitive adaptability then I think every species that has survived so far on this Earth is frankly intelligent enough, having done so by exploiting their niches.
December 2, 2024
We are lucky to have many beautiful native birds in our garden and one non-native African Ginea Fowl and a few chickes shared with neighbour. All bring variety, fun, interest and a wealth of communication each day. Butcher birds and currawongs are the best songs right now, the sulphur cresteds, brush turkies and Rainbows daily demand food. Brains they all have and they use them to manipulate us humans. Gisela Kaplan does it again with a wealth of new info on how birds think..no bird brains this lot!
August 1, 2018
Interesting summary of what is known about avian cognition in Australia and put into context with other classes as well as other parts of the world. Some novel information is provided as well. Sadly this book is so poorly organized, written, and edited makes it worth it only to those studying these subjects. Multiple basic mistakes ("x species is found on y continent" when in reality it is found on z continent) makes me wonder what other mistakes were made.
February 19, 2017
Audience: general readers, bird-lovers, lovers of nature
Tone: informative, anecdotal, entertaining
Find out which bird is the smartest in all of Australia!
Tone: informative, anecdotal, entertaining
Find out which bird is the smartest in all of Australia!
February 25, 2016
Awesome book. Opens eyes to what precious souls with whom we share the earth.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews