“IN THIS BOOK, genius is defined as the knack for knowing what you’re doing — for “catching on” to your surroundings, making sense of things, and figuring out how to solve your problems. In other words, it’s a flair for meeting environmental and social challenges with acumen and flexibility, which many birds seem to possess in abundance. Often this involves doing something innovative, something new — taking advantage of a new food source, for instance, or learning how to exploit it.”

I am and have always been absolutely enamored with birds. There is a pair of binoculars and field guide at the ready for any glimpse of some new feathered visitor. My phone is equipped with the Merlin app to assist in those trickier identifications. I’m also one of those people who love to share any little factoid or interesting tidbit with anyone in earshot. Whether or not this is appreciated may be up for debate, but I don’t care - birds are my jam and that’s that.

For example, Western Scrub Jays squirrel away food in hundreds of caches; nuts, berries, insects, etc. Not only do they remember the locations of these caches, but they also remember what is in each cache. They need to remember this because some food lasts longer than others. So the Jays know the shelf life of their food and what needs to be eaten first. They also keep track of where and what other Jays in the area stash away.

And just one more - biologists in New Zealand watched as House Sparrows repeatedly opened an automatic sliding door that gave them access to a cafeteria. The Sparrows had somehow figured out where the sensor for the door was, how it functioned and what they needed to do to trigger it.

While I ate this book up, it may not be for everyone. It’s a total geek-out on birds and their varying abilities. While there is quite a bit of discussion involving research being done around the world the book is not dry. Jennifer Ackerman is a wonderful writer and her enthusiasm for our feathered friends comes through in her words.

One of the things I took away from this book is that birds are highly intelligent beings; able to navigate thousands of miles, learn to sing beautiful songs, build intricate nests. Calling someone a “bird brain” isn’t quite the insult as once thought.