Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Manufacture and use of hook-tools by New Caledonian crows

Abstract

TOOL behaviour in wild birds has been described as mostly stereotyped1,2, and tool manufacture involves little modification of material3–5. Here I report in New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides the manufacture and use of two different types of hook tool to aid prey capture: hooked-twig and stepped-cut barbed pandanus leaf. Crow tool manufacture had three features new to tool use in free-living nonhumans: a high degree of standardization, distinctly discrete tool types with definite imposition of form in tool shaping, and the use of hooks. These features only first appeared in the stone6 and bone7 tool-using cultures of early humans after the Lower Palaeolithic6,7, which indicates that crows have achieved a considerable technical capability in their tool manufacture and use.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Chevalier-Skolnikoff, S. Behav. Brain Sci. 12, 561–627 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Parker, S. & Gibson, K. J. hum. Evol. 6, 623–641 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Beck, B. B. Animal Tool Behaviour: The Use and Manufacture of Tools by Animals (Garland, New York, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Morse, D. H. The Wilson Bulletin 80, 220–223 (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Millikan, G. C. & Bowman, R. I. Living Bird 6, 23–41 (1967).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Mellars, P. in The Human Revolution (eds Mellars, P. & Stringer, C.) 338–365 (Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Yellen, J. E., Brooks, A. S., Cornelissen, E., Mehlman, M. J. & Stewart, K. Science 268, 553–556 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Délacour, J. Guide des oiseaux de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et ses Dépendances (Delachaux and Niestlé, Neuchâtel, 1966).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Reid, J. B. Anim. Behav. 30, 1212–1216 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Jones, T. B. & Kamil, A. C. Science 180, 1076–1078 (1973).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Grobecker, D. B. & Pietsch, T. W. Auk 95, 760–761 (1978).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Zach, R. Behaviour 68, 106–117 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. James, P. C. & Verbeek, N. A. M. Ardea 72, 207–215 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gayou, D. C. The Wilson Bulletin 94, 593–594 (1982).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Orenstein, R. I. Auk 89, 674–676 (1972).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Napier, J. in Classification and Human Evolution (ed. Washburn, S. L.) 3rd edn 178–189 (Aldine, Chicago, 1969).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Caron, A. J., Caron, R. F. & Antell, S. E. Devl Psychol. 24, 620–627 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. McGrew, W. C. Chimpanzee Material Culture: Implications for Human Evolution (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992).

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hunt, G. Manufacture and use of hook-tools by New Caledonian crows. Nature 379, 249–251 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/379249a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/379249a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing