"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. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores the newly discovered brilliance...

Feeling too grumpy to fly, Bird begins to walk and finds that his mood changes as other animals join him.

"In a tiny village in rural Iran, Zal's demented mother--horrified by his pale skin and hair, the opposite of her own--becomes convinced her baby is evil. She puts him in a wire birdcage on her veranda with the rest of her caged flock, and there he stays for the next ten years: eating birdseed and insects, defecating on the newspaper he squats upon, squawking and shrieking like the other birds.He is rescued from that hell and adopted by a behavioral...

Publisher Annotation: Oddbird has always been on his own. And he's managed pretty well. But that's changing - now, he wishes for a family. When Oddbird's friends plan a big surprise for him, he realizes he's surrounded by those who accept and care for him. All families don't look the same, and sometimes the families we choose are where we belong.