New Experiment Reveals Just How Disturbingly Clever Crows Really Are

This clever fellow is a new Caledonian crow with his stick tool. Auguste von Bayern Crows have proved they are anything but bird-brained on dozens of occasions, but some incredible new research shows that the dark masters of the avian world are perhaps even smarter than we ever realized. A new study has found that New Caledonian crows ( Corvus moneduloides ) can make their own tools by combining several different independent parts, an ability that’s previously only been observed in great apes (including us). Even children can’t master this feat for several years of their early life as it requires a fair deal of foresight, brain power, and problem-solving skills. “The finding is remarkable because the crows received no assistance or training in making these combinations, they figured it out by themselves,” Auguste von Bayern, first author of the study from the Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology and University of Oxford, said in a statement . As reported in the journal Scientific Reports , scientists presented eight of their feathered friends with a see-through box containing a tray of food. To acquire the treat, the crows had to poke a stick through a small hole and push the food over […]

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