Handy crows and hiding dinos

A captive Hawaiian crow using a stick tool to extract food from a wooden log. Photo: Reuters

New Caledonian crows aren’t the only ones in their species that know how to use tools. Scientists from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, have found that Hawaiian crows also use sticks and other tools to dig food from nooks and crannies.

The study of over 100 crows in San Diego Zoo Global reveals that 78% of adults, and 47% of young birds, know this nifty trick. The team also found that even baby birds that have been isolated from their parents developed this ability, indicating that the behaviour could be innate rather than learned.