A team of researchers and conservationists has found that the critically endangered Hawaiian crow is highly proficient in using tools for foraging food.
The Hawaiian crow, commonly known as 'Alalā, is one of very few birds that use tools for foraging in the wild. However, 'Alalā is not the only crow variety with such skills — the New Caledonian crow that lives in a remote South Pacific island of the same name has amazed the researchers with its exemplary skills in using tools.
The New Caledonian crow is proficient in using sticks to winkle out worms and insects from deadwood and other vegetation. Researchers were confused for a long time now that among 40 species of crows and ravens in the world only one species possessed such foraging skills.
Dr. Christian Rutz, from the University of St. Andrews in the UK said that there is an intriguing possibility that a number of crow species efficient in using tools are yet to be discovered. The unusually straight bills of the New Caledonian crow species made researchers wonder if it is a special adaption of the bird to hold tools just like the opposable thumb in people.
The eagerness to find crow species that are capable of handling tools took the researchers close to 'Alalā, which is now unfortunately extinct in the wild. However, the endangered bird variety is taken into captivity for breeding lately.
Bryce Masuda, the study co-leader and program manager of San Diego Zoo Global's Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program, said that the captive-reared birds will be released later this year in the Hawaiian island to re-establish the bird population in the wild.
Masuda added that though his team has at times noticed 'Alalā using stick tools at their breeding center they did not give much of a thought about it. Masuda, who was excited about St. Andrews researchers' call for a collaborative study on tool handling skills of 'Alalā in captivity, readily agreed to the research.
Masuda noted that 104 of 109 'Alalā species alive at the time were keenly observed and it was found that the majority of the said birds in captivity used tools spontaneously.
"Using tools comes naturally to 'Alalā," said Rutz. "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."
Rutz also noted that the Hawaiian crow is similar to the New Caledonian species that is under study for 10 years now.
The study is published in the journal Nature on Sept. 14.
