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Look up Alex the grey parrot and the studies of Irene Pepperberg. Not only did Alex ask for his favorite food (using english words) or to be carried to his favorite place, he also understood concepts like colours, shapes, textures and numbers and could answer questions on it (how many green objects are on this plate?). He also made the first language based joke by an animal as far as I know. I study raven intelligence for a living, bit if you want an impressive first entry into the world of avian cognition I can recommend Pepperberg's books. If people are interested, I can provide some sources later, am on mobile now.

Edit: some sources on corvid cognition:

Here are scientific sources of some of the most successful corvid researchers in no particular order: Thomas Bugnyar (social cognition), John Marzluff (cultural transmission), Mathias Osvath (play), Nicky Clayton and Nathan Emery (memory), Russel Gray (tool use), Christian Rutz (tool use), Alex Taylor (tool use) and Gavin Hunt (tool use). I am sure I forgot some big shots.

These authors worked on several other topics besides the listed ones, but it still gives you an approximate idea about their research interests. Of course there are many more corvid researchers, too many to list here, but if you look at the co-authors of their papers and the cited literature I am sure you can find many more interesting papers.

The tool use people work with New Caledonian crows, whereas the others work mainly with ravens, crows (american, hooded or carrion) and scrub jays, but there are many more.

If you want a more general, popular-science introduction into corvid cognition (mainly ravens), I recommend reading the books of Bernd Heinrich (e.g. Mind of the Raven), or John Marzluff.

There are also those very interesting studies by Prof. John Marzluff and his team, conducted on american crows. You can get a quick summary in this video, but basically they scared some crows while wearing a specific mask and used a different mask as neutral control. The crows remembered and continued to recognize and respond to the "dangerous" mask for several months (in follow up studies even years) but showed no response to the control mask. They also found vertical (across generations) and horizontal (within generation) information transmission of the mask recognition and responding mobbing behaviour. Interestingly, individuals that were not present during the scary event, because they were living in adifferent area or simply not born yet, started responding as well. When the masks were worn upside down, some birds moved their heads upside down as well, further indicating recognition of facial features.


They published a number of papers on the subject:

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347209005806
  
• https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2011.0957
  
• https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2011.0957
  
• https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/09/05/1206109109.short
  
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347215003188
  
  If you have any specific questions, ask away and I'll see if I can help!

Check out some recipe books and see if you can make any meals you like and then ease yourself into it. That's how I started. I started with this one and it has a lot of good recipes.

Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316221902/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8VnRAbS5569YV

Or this one is aimed at doing meals so that you won't miss meat

Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck https://www.amazon.com/dp/1623363586/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FXnRAbJJ6N7BP

Check them out at your library and just pick a few to test. I've also found a few fake meat products that I never thought I would have liked. Quorn makes some good meatless alternatives like chikn nuggets. There's also Beyond Burger which is shockingly meaty.

Wonderful animals. On the topic, if anyone wants a good book to read, I recommend The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony.

They’re amazing. I just finished this book you might enjoy.

https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-among-Ants-Global-Trillions/dp/0520271289#mediaMatrix_secondary_view_div_1568662200140

https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Drinkwell-Platinum-Fountain-Drinking/dp/B000L3XYZ4

I have one. Clean it every 2-4 weeks, refill it every few days and you're golden. My cats love it. Also healthier for them since they drink more water.

He might like Kingtree Cat Self Groomer, 2 Pack Cats Corner Groomers Soft Wall Corner Massage Combs Grooming Brush Perfect Massager Tool for Long Short Fur Kitten Puppy - Grey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G9GN15T/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_LZbRCbDY91S7K

You sure can! Amazon have one with free shipping!

Here's the textbook used in my Comparative Animal Behavior class. I couldn't find it for free online, but I bet you could find a PDF of the first edition somewhere, like on libgen.

You're thinking of the bluefins. They are the large apex predators, which is why they are also the highest in mercury -- they are accumulators. But a single bluefin fetches up to $10K and, today, are mostly bought by Japanese for sushi restaurants back home. The tuna you buy in cans at Safeway are smaller, more prevalent species (read: not as environmentally significant).

Source: Tuna: A Love Story

I don't agree with this kind of all-or-nothing attitude. It's not so easy to become vegetarian, let alone vegan, especially after being a meat-eater for all of your life. Just because you believe animals have agency doesn't necessarily mean that eating animals is tantamount to "condoning the torture of farmed animals." You can be a responsible consumer of meat and try to buy from more ethical farms; you can try to cut back on your meat intake; you can do other things that support animal welfare while you struggle with the omnivore's dilemma.

Expecting people to drastically change their lifestyles is exactly the sort of attitude that causes some people to not even try in the first place. Baby steps are effective. Looking down your nose at the very natural act of eating meat is not.

I’m midway through the book “What a Fish Knows,” which pulls together much of what is currently known about some of your questions. You might enjoy it: https://www.amazon.com/What-Fish-Knows-Underwater-Cousins/dp/0374537097/ref=nodl_

There is a really nice children's book about this: The Bear and the Piano.

As someone who's been reading the same baby-clothing-swap children's book about belugas to my boy for the past few months, I feel like now is the only chance I will ever have to share the extensive knowledge about this wonderful species that I have amassed. I present the following:

• Belugas drink their mother's milk until they have all their teeth, a total of 34. Once they have all 34 teeth, they still swallow their food whole.
  
  
• Belugas eat squid, clams, and cod.
  
  
• As a species of whale, belugas breath air and use a blowhole. They have blubber.
  
  
• Belugas are born grey but turn white
  
  
• They live in the Arctic, meaning their white skin blends into icebergs.
  
  
• A group of belugas is called a pod. Belugas are slow-moving creatures but can swim backwards and can turn their heads.
  
  
• Belugas are sometimes called sea canaries because of their bird-like sounds used for communication.
  
  Source: Pingry, Patricia A., and Drew Rose. Baby Beluga. Nashville, TN: CandyCane, 2006. Print. Sea World Library.

Amazon has you covered

https://www.amazon.com/Helmet-Dogs-Cats-Small-Pets/dp/B00EA8HIIK

Unrelated to the science, but related in theme is the story, The Bees of Knowledge (found in the following book).

The Knights of the Limits https://www.amazon.com/dp/1587153831/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7GdxCbCPEG92A

Are you British and have never heard of Swingball, or do you just call it something else?

Amazon link for the lazy

Check out this book, The Bonobo and the Atheist. It’s about the Bonobo culture and how they behave altruistically.

Frans de Waal's books on the chimps he studied at the same facility, such as Chimpanzee Politics, are incredibly eye-opening from a r/likeus perspective.

Mama was one of the chimps in the group he researched. In her day, she was one formidable primate. She was even something of a kingmaker—her recognition of a would-be alpha male would help swing all the adult females over to that chimp's side.

It's really sad to hear about her death after reading two de Waal books where she features so prominently!