Clever Corvids: Hawaiin species found (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, September 14, 2016, 19:56 (2992 days ago) @ David Turell

New Caledonian crows are very special using tools. Now another crow species in Hawaii is found as talented. They are geographically very far apart, and had a common ancestor 11 million years ago. This is probably learned behavior as a convergence in a species with great talent to begin with:-https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160914135925.htm-"An international team of scientists and conservation experts has discovered that the critically-endangered Hawaiian crow, or 'Alal?, is a highly proficient tool user, according to a paper published today in the scientific journal Nature.-***-"'We had previously noticed that New Caledonian crows have unusually straight bills, and wondered whether this may be an adaptation for holding tools, similar to humans' opposable thumb," Rutz elaborates. By searching for this tell-tale sign amongst some of the lesser-known corvid species, he quickly homed in on a particularly promising candidate for further investigation -- the 'Alal?.-***-"We tested 104 of the 109 'Alal? alive at the time, and found that the vast majority of them spontaneously used tools," says Masuda. Current evidence strongly suggests that tool use is part of the species' natural behavioural repertoire, rather than being a quirk that arose in captivity, according to Rutz: "Using tools comes naturally to 'Alal?. These birds had no specific training prior to our study, yet most of them were incredibly skilled at handling stick tools, and even swiftly extracted bait from demanding tasks. In many regards, the 'Alal? is very similar to the New Caledonian crow, which my team has been studying for over 10 years."-"Experts have applauded the 'tour de force' of controlled experiments. "Most studies in our field investigate just a handful of subjects, so it is truly mindboggling to see an entire species tested," comments Professor Thomas Bugnyar, a corvid expert at the University of Vienna, Austria, who was not involved in the study.-***-"The discovery of a second tool-using crow species finally provides leverage for addressing long-standing questions about the evolution of animal tool behaviour. "As crow species go, the 'Alal? and the New Caledonian crow are only very distantly related. With their last common ancestor living around 11 million years ago, it seems safe to assume that their tool-using skills arose independently," explains Rutz. "It is striking that both species evolved on remote tropical islands in the Pacific Ocean that lack woodpeckers and ferocious bird predators -- perfect conditions, apparently, for smart crows to become accomplished tool users!'"-Comment: Animals with bright brains can learn, develop simple tool techniques which then become instinct, as this study appears to show. No where near as complex as tying weaver nests, but an interesting comparison.