Alexander Frank Skutch

Short stories of Costa Rica's natural resources by naturalist (b. Baltimore, 1904) resident in Costa Rica since 1941. The stories reflect the state of the country's environment during the 1930s.

In this controversial culmination of a lifelong quest, Alexander F. Skutch, a well-known ornithologist who has studied birds for more than sixty years, makes a case for "believing that birds' mental capacities have been grossly underestimated." Lacking hard scientific proofs of what birds think and feel, we are left, Skutch argues, with inferences gleaned from observation of their behavior. His intimate, six-decade study of tropical and north temperate birds and his wide survey of the literature inform this remarkable review of the psychic life of birds. Although varying widely by species, many birds have a striking ability to recognize as individuals not only other birds of their own kind (which all look alike to humans), but also familiar humans, even after a long absence. They have good memories and give indications of forethought. Only humans take more elaborate care of their offspring than most birds do, and few animals of any kind live in such closely united families as those of cooperatively breeding birds, which carefully avoid incest. The diverse play of birds suggests their capacity for enjoyment. They can be taught to count up to eight, and some are known to use tools. The tastefully adorned constructions of bower birds and the songs of many other species also point strongly to an aesthetic sense. The journeys of migrants between known breeding and wintering territories separated by thousands of miles speak of memory and navigational skills that baffle human observers. . Birders and behaviorist ornithologists alike will find Skutch's work provocative and rewarding - no more easily dismissed than the apparently purposeful behavior of the birds he describes. A timely and useful contribution to the debate on animal intelligence, this book offers - with precision, force, clarity, and a wide range of examples - a challenge to the long-standing mechanistic view of nonhuman life.

"In Helpers at Birds' Nests, renowned naturalist and ornithologist Alexander Skutch provides vivid, detailed accounts of a remarkable aspect of bird behavior - the aid that one bird gives another who is neither its mate nor its dependent young and who may even belong to a different species."--BOOK JACKET. "Skutch describes the cooperative behavior of more than fifty families of birds. Each family is introduced by a brief sketch of its distribution and outstanding features, followed by intimate, nontechnical accounts of the helpful behaviors that have been most carefully studied. Skutch considers the significance of helpful birds and discusses the theoretical aspects of cooperative breeding, its evolution, kin selection, altruism, and demography."--BOOK JACKET.

“If Charles Darwin sprang from his grave, I would give him this fine book to bring him up to speed.” — Matt Ridley, author of [The Red Queen]

"A detailed survey ... of the family life and reproductive behavior of birds, from the formation of pairs to the young birds' attainment of independence."