The New Caledonian Crow has impressive abilities when it comes to solving a problem, and finding the right tool for the job.
In past experiments these crows have figured out how to use tools, such as hooks to retrieve food, and have even made tools by bending pieces of metal when ready-made hooks weren’t available. But in a recent study, the crows have solved a more complicated puzzle where they had to use a series of tools in the correct order.
In this test, they were presented with four horizontal transparent tubes. One tube contained the prize – a treat that was visible to the crow but completely out of reach. The other tubes contained hooked sticks of increasing length – which were also out of reach. One small hooked stick lay in the test area, with which the the crow could make a start on the tricky puzzle of getting to the treat.
Absolutely independently the crow worked out that she needed to use the smallest tool to extract the medium-size one, then the medium-size one to extract the longest tool, which she was finally able to use to reach the treat.
Now researchers at the University of Oxford have observed New Caledonian Crows using tools in their natural environment. The crows use tools for many purposes such as fishing out beetle larvae from dead wood. It has even been shown that they use tools more often than their beaks for some tasks. Like their laboratory counterparts, wild crows appear to be able to match the right tool to the job using longer tools for deeper holes and preferring to select leaf stems over twigs. Adult crows were more adept at using tools, suggesting they have the ability to learn and to improve their techniques over time.
Sources
1.Bluff, L.A., Troscianko, A., Weir, A.S., Kacelnik, A., Rutz, C. (2010) Tool use by wild New Caledonian crows at natural foraging sites. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1953
2. Behavioural Ecology Research Group at Oxford University
