A couple of months ago I read Jenny Odell's transcript of a keynote she gave at a conference. It's a good talk and well worth a read/watch, but the part about her bird encounters caught my attention the most.

I ended up reading "The Genius of Birds", which she mentions and that book referenced some sections of "Gifts of the Crow" which I read immediately after. The latter covers a lot of the same topics as the first, but focuses on Corvid research. Since reading them, I'd say I've become mildly obsessed with crows and their kin - I generally have nuts in my bag now just in case I meet a friendly one.

I highly recommend at least reading The Genius of Birds - it's an easy-going read in a light-hearted tone and just generally full of fascinating little stories about bird research and their obvious intelligence and charm.

I just moved house, and it turns out that a member of the corvid family already frequents my yard - a pair of bright blue Scrub Jays. On just the first day of my hanging out with them, they already know what the deal is. So happy about my new neighbours!