Russell's Crows 1/2 - insights from the Ivory Tower

Professor Russell Gray discusses recent research on New Caledonian crows, their capacity to make and wield tools, and experimental results which suggest that their understanding of tool use should not be overestimated.

Paper cited

Holzhaider, J.C., Hunt, G.R., Campbell, V.M. and Gray, R.D. 2008. Do wild New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) attend to the functional properties of their tools? Animal Cognition, 11:243-254.

Part 2 of Russell's Crows - Metatool use
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIwsNvCkhrk

Alex Taylor discusses a new trap-tube study which builds on the metatool conclusions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M52ZVtmPE9g

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• animal
• cognition
• corvus
• moneduloides
• new
• caledonian
• crows
• psychology
• experiment

[erez1979]

great job!

what about the middle eastern grey crow?

is it possible that the grey ones are talented in social com?

thanks :)

[torchstar]

I have been aware for ages that corvids are the top of the class bird brains. This video work is so beautiful! Crows are the smartest- and they get to really show it off here! Thanks!

[AnnTuxford]

Great job, Marc. Well done. Luv mum