THE GENIUS OF BIRDS

Birds are really smart. Jennifer Ackerman cites recent research and lots of fascinating anecdotes to illustrate avian intelligence. Narrator Margaret Strom's voice is clear and engaging. Her energy and pacing easily hold the listener's attention. It's an around-the-world tour of Australian bowerbirds stealing blue plastic items for their bowers and dancing to attract a mate, New Caledonian crows making tools to access food, and New Zealand sparrows triggering automatic doors to a cafeteria. Ackerman delves into how mockingbirds learn to mimic the songs of other birds and how migrating birds navigate and find their way again after being knocked off course by a hurricane. Strom sounds suitably amazed by it all, too--a fine match of material and voice. In the future, you will only call somebody a "birdbrain" as praise. A.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2016]