The Genius of Birds Audiobook By Jennifer Ackerman cover art

The Genius of Birds

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

The Genius of Birds

By: Jennifer Ackerman
Narrated by: Margaret Strom
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight.

©2016 Jennifer Ackerman. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Animals Biology Outdoors & Nature Outdoor Human Brain Thought-Provoking Bird Behavior
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"[Narrator Margaret] Strom sounds suitably amazed by it all, too--a fine match of material and voice." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Genius of Birds

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    316
  • 4 Stars
    188
  • 3 Stars
    71
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    249
  • 4 Stars
    145
  • 3 Stars
    78
  • 2 Stars
    29
  • 1 Stars
    21
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    299
  • 4 Stars
    140
  • 3 Stars
    63
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, Narrator not so much

Would you listen to The Genius of Birds again? Why?

I would read this book again, but probably not listen. The narrator seems to forget that this is not a fiction story. her random pauses, and general reading cadence just does not work with a non fiction book. At first it didn't bother me, but at times, her cadence and varying tone is more distracting and I cannot focus on the information being presented.

Who was your favorite character and why?

non fiction book-no charecters

How could the performance have been better?

If the narrator did not add her own punctuation, or read it like a fictional book.

Any additional comments?

I am glad I purchased this as a physical book so I can go back and read it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating topic, odd narration

A great layperson's overview of bird cognition, but the narrator's odd pronunciations and weird mid-sentence pauses were distracting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Asks the right questions

I enjoy how this book makes you think about what's really going on in a bird's brain. Ackerman does a great job of bringing in scientific studies and anecdotal evidence to create one day and to inform while still allowing for other possibilities to be true.
She is honest about the anecdotal evidence and doesn't use it as absolute truth, but still creates wonder.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent book

it's mind boggling how smart birds are. even if you know a lot about this, the book lays our very thoroughly the thinking and findings in this field and it has tremendous implications for all sorts of other areas in society and science

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Beginning Birder book

This is a great book for young researchers or bird enthusiast. It has a lot of major points of bird evolution and behavior.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful anecdotal and scientific data

very good information about a limited number of different species, with interesting significance for human research. some of us familiar with birds and books on birds may be familiar with a lot presented here. the navigation chapter was my favorite!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

I am an avid birder and learned so much from this book. I will listen to again for sure.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Inaccuracies

Some good info— but what do you trust when there are glaring errors eg. Monarch are not the mimickers of viceroy butterflies— it is the opposite. I also had problems with the reader who mispronounced several scientific words-including “ ornithologist “ on one occasion.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful insight!

The author had me laughing then the next minute awing in amazement at the fantastic intellect of birds!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

Loved this! Learned a lot of new information. It was well written and well read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!