conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me a description for a story titled Ravens in Winter about University, Vermont, Maine with the genre: Science & Math, Nature & Ecology.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: In 1984 the author, professor of zoology at the University of Vermont, determined to find out why ravens call to each other when they discover food, a rare example of sharing in the wild. For the next four years he spent winter weekends observing these birds at a remote site in Maine, braving fierce weather, lugging enormous amounts of bait to lure ravens to his study area and sleeping in a cabin where temperatures often plunged below zero at night. The story related here, which is constructed from his field notes, moves slowly; we learn a good deal about scientific methods and a lot about patience. Overall, however, the story is suspenseful and exciting. The author follows a series of clues, some going nowhere, and others finally leading to the solution to this puzzle of animal behavior. The climactic moment comes after the author, having trapped and banded more than 40 ravens, is able to discover, first, that only certain juvenile birds make the calls, and then, why they do so. Illustrations not seen by PW. <BR>Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me a description for a story titled Ravens In Winter about Vermont, Bernd, Professor with the genre: Science & Math, Biological Sciences.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Bernd the author is Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of Vermont and is the author of numerous storys, including Bumblebee Economics , Why We Run: A Natural History , Mind of the Raven , and most recently, The Homing Instinct. His work has been featured in Scientific American , Discover , and The New York Times , among other places. He has received the John Burroughs Medal for Nature Writing and has been nominated for a National Book Award for Science. He lives in Vermont.