Avian Intelligence

Over at Neurophilosophy there is a great post on avian intelligence, focusing on crows (or course). Be sure to go read the post, but I lifted this one video and description because it's damn cool.

Crows can also design new tools when they need to. In the wild, Gavin Hunt and Russel Gray, of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, have observed crows crafting hooked implements from leafy twigs. This was the first observed case of the crafting of tools by a non-human species.

The crows manufacture the tools in three stages, each of which involves a complex manipulation of the materials being used. First, they select the appropriate raw materials; normally, this is a fork formed from two twigs. The side twig is then broken off just above the junction of the fork, and discarded. The other twig is then broken off just below the junction. Finally, the bird uses its bill to remove the leaves, and to sculpt a fine hook from the end of the twig:

Tags: avian intelligence, crows, Neurophilosopher, tool use