Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom. This item is unavailable.Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom

A lyrical blend of science, memoir, history, and natural philosophy that uses the intelligence and adaptability of urban crows to encourage us to notice―and rethink―our relationship with the wild world around us.

 

“A completely charming and informative book on the pleasures of keeping one's eyes open.” ―David Sedaris

 

Crow Planet explores the surprisingly complex lives of crows and what their presence in cities and suburbs can teach us about the natural world. Lyanda Lynn Haupt combines personal observations, scientific research, history, mythology, and stories about her encounters with crows to reveal their intelligence, adaptability, social behavior, and close relationship with humans.

More broadly, the book challenges the idea that nature exists somewhere “out there,” separate from our everyday lives. By paying attention to crows and other wildlife in ordinary urban environments, Haupt encourages readers to become more observant and to reconsider humanity’s place within the larger ecological community, turning an ordinary backyard bird into a doorway to deeper questions about conservation, interconnectedness, and our relationship with the wild.

Lyanda Lynn Haupt has created and directed educational programs for Seattle Audubon, worked in raptor rehabilitation in Vermont, and as a seabird researcher for the Fish and Wildlife Service in the remote tropical Pacific. She is the author of Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent and Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds (winner of the 2002 Washington State Book Award).

Her writing has appeared in Image, Open Spaces, Wild Earth, Conservation Biology Journal, Birdwatcher's Digest, and the Prairie Naturalist. She lives in West Seattle with her husband and daughter.