Mind of the Raven

Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds

By: Bernd Heinrich

Narrated by: Norman Dietz

Bernd Heinrich involves us in his quest to get inside the mind of the raven. But as animals can be spied on only by getting quite close, Heinrich adopts ravens, thereby becoming a "raven father", as well as observing them in their natural habitat. He studies their daily routines and, in the process, paints a vivid picture of the ravens' world.

At the heart of this book are Heinrich's love and respect for these complex and engaging creatures, and through his keen observation and analysis we become their intimates, too. Heinrich's passion for ravens has led him around the world in his research. Mind of the Raven follows an exotic journey - from New England to Germany, and from Montana to Baffin Island in the High Arctic - offering dazzling accounts of how science works in the field, filtered through the eyes of a passionate observer of nature. Each new discovery and insight into raven behavior is thrilling, at once lyrical and scientific.

©1999 Bernd Heinrich (P)2016 Tantor

It's actually about ravens!

So many books like this wind up being a travel blog about the author's journey more than the supposed subject matter. Not this book. It's about ravens, ravens, and only ravens from beginning to end.

Narrator killed what potential it had

Old voice dull and conspiciously short of breath killed what otherwise might have been an enjoyable listen. Recommend reading the book instead. There are insights and enjoyable moments in ravens throughout and definitely something there for those of us interested and curious about the topic.

How do biologists understand other animals?

What made the experience of listening to Mind of the Raven the most enjoyable?

To learn the extent of Ravens ability to reason and solve problems was amazing. The wild experiments that the author performed with Ravens as subjects was amazing. I do have to ask, would we tolerate such experiments performed on people. I do not know. On the other hand, how can you get informed consent from a Raven?

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mind of the Raven?

Testing whether Ravens can figure out how to get food that is hanging from a string really showed (to me) that Ravens have intelligence, a capacity for acting that is not instinctual. This means that we are undervaluing our fellow inhabitants of our planet.

good account of studies

I learned a lot about Ravens and I am Tha fun for that. The reading was a little dry but don't well nontheless.

Narrator so old fashioned

The narrator sounded as if he were voicing a 1950s newsreel. Very dated, very stilted.

slow start but picked up

was a bit slow to get into. once I increased the speed to 1.5 it was a bit easier. The full richness of the story and insight into ravens picked up after the beginning and kept me engaged.

A Very Good Listen

I knew almost nothing of ravens when I started this book but now I have a huge appreciation of how much work, time and amazing effort goes into field studies. From climbing huge trees (a few times a day!) to continuously recording notes, coming up with imaginative tests for the ravens, collecting varieties of food (such as roadkill, frogs, snakes and many calves), and traveling to different raven locals around the world - this is a work of science and love.

The narrator Norman Dietz did a very nuanced job and I thought he was a great choice. This is a book of science much like what would be written up in a scientific journal, but skillfully interwoven with raven antidotes and stories about their inexhaustibly different behaviors - which in any other reader's voice could be read with too much emotion - or too little. This is one of those 'listens' where I had to check that it was not the author himself who was the narrator because Mr. Dietz was so perfectly believable speaking in the first-person.

Is it dry and devoid of suspense, intrigue, romance? Not in the least, but be prepared to listen and hopefully appreciate Mr Dietz's voice as he reads the minutiae of facts such as 1 minute 40 seconds, intervals of 3 minutes every 6th time, etc. That might be boring to some but I found it demonstrated that the author was meticulous in his study of ravens, and I was just as fascinated by the scientific notes as the interwoven stores of Goliath, Lefty, White Wing, Hootie and the rest of the gang.

Fascinating

This book was more then I ever imagined. It was a look into a bird that is to often underrated. With Mr. Heinrichs help that misconception is put to rest.

Great Story to help explore The Wolf Bird's Mind.

A pleasure to listen to this story. A fascinating series of observations and collaboration about a remarkable bird. Well written and documented about this species that we share the planet with. When he considered the raven in history and folklore and the behavior we see now creates an evolutionary possibility that is compelling,

Interesting but outdated

Listeners should be aware that although the audio book is copyright 2016 the book that is being read is copyright 1998 with most of the observations and research occurring several years before that. The Narrative is largely about the writer's experience raising and observing ravens.