Monday, August 20, 2007

Corvids are no dumbies

From the BBC:

Crows have shown that two tools are better than one when it comes to problem solving, scientists say.

A University of Auckland study has revealed that New Caledonian crows can use separate tools in quick succession to retrieve an out-of-reach snack.

The birds were using reasoning that was more commonly seen in great apes and humans, the New Zealand team reported in the journal Current Biology.
This species' thinking abilities are not news to those familiar with Betty, a New Caledonian crow that created a tool during an Oxford University study in 2002. She did it repeatedly to retrieve a snack from within a tube. Clever bird!

2 Comments:

Blogger Patrick B. said...

I think the Life of Birds DVD's show a crow using a stick to pry out a grub from a stump. I haven't seen it in a while, so I may be mistaking it for something else. It's a must see DVD set regardless.

Also, I was watching the show "Ice Truckers" on the History Channel and they had a Raven following an 18-wheeler. It was eating from the driver's hand while flying next to the truck.

August 21, 2007 8:32 AM  
Blogger Amy said...

Oh, thanks for pointing that out, Patrick. I'll pop in that DVD soon.

August 21, 2007 10:16 AM  

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