"Birds and Cages" Prereview to the New Book by Ida Tomshinsky

When you think about all of the animals in the world, you quickly realize that birds are, in fact, amongst some of the most intelligent creatures we have on Earth. Although there are more than 10,000 bird species worldwide, only a handful of them have made the list for extremely talented and incredibly intelligent. So, who are these super intelligent feathered friends? It is difficult to pick one: perhaps kea, ravens and crows are equally smart; macaws, cockatoo, and jays are on the top of any list, too.  Who knew that African grey was capable working out the location of hidden food by using the kind of deduction and elimination skills previously seen only in humans and apes? And as you probably have heard, they are exceptional talkers!

Today, we all know that it is bad to imprison birds in cages, but it was not always the case throughout the history. “Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild.” (Stephen King)

Due to beautiful Victorian era, people were listening to bird songs in cages as it would be their radio entertainment outlet. During the wartime's, birds demonstrated their unique abilities in courageous heroic efforts to help humans to transfer information through the battled fields.