As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday, 5 July 2018

Crow vending machine skills 'redefine intelligence'



29 June 2018


A small South Pacific island is home to a crow with remarkable abilities that have scientists hooked.

New Caledonian crows make and use tools - including a kind of fishing hook.

They can solve complex problems and have even been recorded capturing grubs by repeatedly poking them with a stick until they are so agitated, they bite.

Now, an experiment using a vending machine specifically designed for crows has revealed something about how intelligence evolves.

The "vending experiment" is the latest in an ongoing investigation into these birds' abilities. They are so remarkable that scientists have a special aviary in New Caledonia, where they can keep wild birds for only a few days and test their problem-solving prowess, before releasing them back into the forest.


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