Bird Brains ─ The Wild & Wacky World of Birds

Accurate, current bird science presented in an intriguing, highly illustrated way.

Birds do the wildest things! (And you thought all they did was fly...) In Bird Brains, learn how birds use sound,color, and dances to communicate with each other, and camouflage, dive-bombing, and projectile vomiting to discourage predators. They build nests with sticks, stones, feathers, vines, mud, mucus, saliva, and more. Full-color illustrations showcase these cool behaviors.

Did you know that...

-birds are smart? Crows watch traffic lights in big cities so cars can break open hard nutshells.

-birds are strong? Raptors can withstand G-forces of more than 27 Gs when they swoop down to capture prey. That's three times more than a fighter jet pilot can stand without passing out.

-birds are gross? Parent birds feed regurgitated food to hatchlings.

A whole world of wonder awaits any inquisitive child!

Jeremy Hyman, PhD, teaches ornithology and animal behavior at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. He studies the interplay of cooperative and competitive interactions in territorial communication in birds. He has written birding columns for a regional newspaper and gives talks to birding enthusiasts.

Haude Levesque, PhD, was born on the French coast. As a child, Haude liked to draw and observe animals. She started her biology degree in France and moved to Canada to study fish. She works in Minnesota, where she teaches physiology and marine biology at the University of Saint Thomas and lives with her husband, two sons, and two cats.