I really enjoyed reading The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman and highly recommend reading it. It was packed full of studies on birds and their intelligence, whether it was building tools, migrating long distances, or solving human-designed puzzles. There are a lot of ways to think about intelligence and what it means. As anyone who has raised children knows, things that may seem mundane from a surface observation can actually be significant and show significant thought and understanding. Furthermore, while the book was detailed and full of science, it was well-written, not bogging the reader down like a college text book might.

One thing I especially appreciated was the fact that the studies were cited, so anyone can read more in-depth on each one, clarifying a point, learning more, or checking up on the book’s author. Honestly, there was far more than I ever would have expected, which is a great thing when you want to consume a lot of knowledge. She did call Afghanistan part of the Middle East, but I’ll let that slide. Read this to learn about birds, about animal intelligence, or just to have fun reading.