A team of scientists from the University of Saint Andrews, in Scotland, has discovered that some species of raven have not only developed the ability to use sticks and stones as tools, but, like humans do, they keep them when they are not. they use.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , is the first to delve into the ability of some animals to treasure objects and avoid losing them.
The trial, coordinated by Barbara Klump, an ecologist and ethologist from the aforementioned institution, has focused on a group of New Caledonian crows, Corvus moneduloides , animals from the South Pacific that have already been observed using small branches to extract from their hiding places the insects on which they feed.
Now, Klump and his collaborators have found that after doing so they carefully place them between their legs. That way, they can use their beak to eat and then retrieve them to keep pulling critters out of their hiding place.
“Crows are more careful with their things when they use them in enclaves located at a certain height than at ground level,” explains Klump. “This makes a lot of sense, since if they got rid of them it would be more difficult to get them back. In fact, they tend to get very pissed off if one of them escapes them by accident, ”says the researcher.
The study authors also warn that when they finish the job, the crows keep the tools in holes they find in the trees or under their bark for another time , since they perfectly remember where they left them.
This saves them from having to find or manufacture new ones and spend as much time as possible feeding. Now, these experts try to know how long they can use the same twig and to what extent they are able to plan their strategies.
