A review by deathprofessor
The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman

informative relaxing medium-paced

4.0

In The Bird Way, naturally you will learn about the fascinating behaviours and practices of bird species, but Ackerman does much more than just describe. Her approach, and the approach of the scientists and naturalists that she speaks with, centers questions that shake up the male- and Western-centric study of birds. Female birds are simply pawns in the male bird mating displays? Wrong. All birds mate in tidy pairs? Wrong. The Bird Way is an important reminder that science, too, is ever-evolving and subject to personal and cultural biases. And that we have just scratched the surface of our knowledge of this diverse group of beings. 

In the conclusion, Ackerman describes how researcher Mathias Osvath believes that corvids are on the cusp of a cognitive breakthrough, and may possibly be the next dominant species. To this point, my recommendation is to check out Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton, an apocalyptic story where the new order is run by crows.