New study provides surprising
insights into how crows manufacture their hooked foraging tools
Date: December 7, 2017
Source: University of St. Andrews
Biologists at the University of
St Andrews have discovered how New Caledonian crows make one of their most
sophisticated tool designs -- sticks with a neatly-shaped hooked tip.
New Caledonian crows are the only
species besides humans known to manufacture hooked tools in the wild. Birds
produce these remarkable tools from the side branches of certain plants,
carefully 'crafting' a crochet-like hook that can be used for snagging insect
prey.
The study, published in Current Biology today (7 December),
reveals how crows manage to fashion particularly efficient tools, with
well-defined 'deep' hooks.
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