Crows from an island in the South Pacific are better than other avian species when it comes to crafting tools. Now, researchers propose that, unlike humans, New Caledonian crows don’t copy older members of the species to learn their trade but pick up tool making by taking a mental snapshot of the final product and manufacturing it in their own way. The findings were published in Scientific Reports yesterday (June 28).
The researchers made a vending machine for the crows that doled out meaty rewards in exchange for particular sizes of card paper. The birds were trained to realize which sizes would result in a win. Next, the crows were given large sheets of paper that had to be ripped into smaller pieces in order to fit into the vending machine. The birds were given no hints about size this time around. However, the crows remembered the sizes of paper ...
