The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

The take home message that first and foremost that such monikers as "bird brain" are (as is so often the case with sweeping generalizations) reductionist and largely inaccurate. The truth is that avian intelligence exists on a wide spectrum, with the dimmer end seemingly, like the dodo, almost striving for extinction, while at the top end of the scale we have marvels, with only the higher primates matching the birds’ tool-crafting capabilities. At one point the author makes a brief, representative list of both the smart and the stupid birds, and I couldn’t help noticing that the former – crows, herons, gulls, woodpeckers, and so on – are not eaten by humans, whereas the more intellectually compromised ones such as partridges, turkeys and quail are considered good eating. If we are to believe the lessons of the Galapagos are to be believed, the lack of a predator is also another piece of the puzzle of the haves and the have nots in bird intelligence. This book is a delight. It makes you think about what smarts are, and how to evaluate them on a spectrum of options. The bottom line is that birds are fascinating and we don't know or understand them particularly well.