John Marzluff (born 1958) is a professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington and an author.

John Marzluff
John Marzluff (2020)
Born1958 (age 65–66)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materNorthern Arizona University
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Washington

In the Company of Crows and Ravens was written with and illustrated by Tony Angell.[1] They discuss the ways that crows are like humans, and the many different ways that humans have treated crows.[1] In Gifts of the Crow, Marzluff and Angell documented how intelligent crows are, with both anecdotes and research.[2] In Subirdia, Marzluff shows how seven "exploiter" birds have enlarged their territories by taking advantage of human-made changes to the environment, and discusses how we could make our back yards better for birds.[3] His work combines science, anecdotes, and humor.[3]

His lab once banded American crows while wearing various masks, which demonstrated that crows identify and remember people's faces.[4][5] After the people wearing the mask left, even crows that did not witness the tagging scolded the mask, showing an example of cultural transmission in crows. He and his fellow researchers found that this transmission was both from one generation to the next and from peer to peer.[6] His work is featured on the PBS documentary TV show Nature in the episode "A Murder of Crows".[7] His work with crows includes some of the first behavioral brain-imaging studies in wild birds.[8]

In 1989, he won the H.R. Painton Award for an outstanding paper published in The Condor.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "Marzluff, John M.". Contemporary Authors, Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  2. ^ Gorman, James. "The Games Crows Play, and Other Winged Tales" New York Times, June 11, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Bodio, Stephen, J. "Book Review: Welcome To Subirdia, By John Marzluff". allaboutbirds.org April 14, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  4. ^ "Friend or Foe? Crows Never Forget a Face, It Seems". The New York Times. August 26, 2008.
  5. ^ "American crows: the ultimate angry birds?". GrrlScientist. The Guardian. July 2, 2011.
  6. ^ Cornell, H; Marzluff, J; Pecoraro, S. Social learning spreads knowledge about dangerous humans among American crows. Proceedings of the Royal Society. 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  7. ^ "Watch Full Episodes Online of Nature on PBS - A Murder of Crows". PBS.
  8. ^ McGowan, Kat. "Meet the Bird Brainiacs". Audubon, March–April 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
edit