Post by Teddy Bear on Feb 13, 2014 18:16:22 GMT
Bird-brained? This crow's a genius! Amazing video reveals how creature solves 8 complex puzzles to unlock a treat
By Sarah Griffiths
James Bond is known for his ability to make the best of a bad situation, but a crow called 007 has also proved to be a top notch problem solver.
The cunning crow has solved one of the most complex tests of the animal mind ever to be constructed.
And did so in less than three minutes on camera - a world first.
The programme shows 007 the crow completing the eight stage puzzle in approximately two-and-a-half minutes. The individual processes are detailed in this diagram
Amazingly the problem-solving creature performed the series of tasks without seeing the fiendishly difficult set up of the course beforehand.
The wild crow learned to use individual props during its three months of captivity but had to work out the order in which to use them to complete the challenge and get an inaccessible treat. The animal was later released.
The experiment, which was devised by Dr Alex Taylor, a Lecturer in Evolutionary Psychology based at The University of Auckland, New Zealand, features in BBC Two programme ‘Inside the Animal Mind – The Problem Solvers’.
It shows 007 completing the eight stage puzzle in approximately two-and-a-half minutes.
First the crow pulls a string attached to the branch it is perched on towards itself to reach a short stick dangling below.
The crow picks up the short stick in its mouth and stage one is complete.
007 then immediately makes its way to a narrow container containing a meaty treat and tries to use the stick to reach it – but it is too short.
The bird keeps hold of the stick and makes its way to the first of three boxes, which each contain a stone unreachable without the stick behind wooden bars.
007 then uses its stick to drag a stone from the first box and picks it up in its beak to complete stage two. But then it drops the stone, seemingly temporarily stumped as what to do with it.
However, the persistent creature picks up the stick again and retrieves a stone from the second of the boxes and then seemingly has a brainwave to place it in a separate perspex container.
007 picks up the stone it has already retrieved and posts it into the clear container too, before retrieving the final stone from the final box.
When it posts the last of the stones into the perspex box, their weight pushes down a compartment, which allows the crow to access a long stick and complete stage eight.
Armed with the long stick, the crow immediately uses it to poke inside a narrow box treat containing a treat and drag the morsel towards itself.
The clever bird is rewarded for its hard work and mental agility in completing the series of eight challenges.
Wildlife presenter Chris Packham, who presents the programme, said: ‘That was remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it.
‘Of all the bird behaviour I’ve seen, nothing matches that.
‘Inside the Animal Mind’ last aired on Tuesday 4 February ad can be seen on BBC iPlayer.
In the programme, Mr Packham explores the minds of the cleverest animals on the planet, discovering their astonishing abilities, including how bees navigate, cockatoos can pick locks and an intelligent octopus.
- A cunning crow called '007' has solved one of the most complex tests of the animal mind ever to be constructed
- Completed series of challenges for the first time in under three minutes
- The test was devised by Alex Taylor, a lecturer in evolutionary psychology based in Auckland New Zealand and featured in a BBC2 programme
By Sarah Griffiths
James Bond is known for his ability to make the best of a bad situation, but a crow called 007 has also proved to be a top notch problem solver.
The cunning crow has solved one of the most complex tests of the animal mind ever to be constructed.
And did so in less than three minutes on camera - a world first.
The programme shows 007 the crow completing the eight stage puzzle in approximately two-and-a-half minutes. The individual processes are detailed in this diagram
THE CLEVERNESS OF CROWS
An experiment by the University of Cambridge has proved that members of the crow family, known as corvids, aren’t just among the cleverest birds, they are smarter than most mammals and can perform tasks that three and four-year-old children have difficulty with.
Scientists said that, while having very different brain structures, both crows and primates use a combination of mental tools, including imagination and the anticipation of possible future events, to solve similar problems.
Other experiments involving the same family of birds found that Caledonian crows can use up to three tools in sequence to obtain food, which the University of Oxford’s Behavioural Ecology Research Group said is the first demonstration of spontaneous sequential tool use in a species other than humans.
A study also found that rooks can use stones to raise the level of water in a vessel in order to bring a floating worm into reach.
Urban-living carrion crows have been witnessed learning to use road traffic for cracking nuts.
An experiment by the University of Cambridge has proved that members of the crow family, known as corvids, aren’t just among the cleverest birds, they are smarter than most mammals and can perform tasks that three and four-year-old children have difficulty with.
Scientists said that, while having very different brain structures, both crows and primates use a combination of mental tools, including imagination and the anticipation of possible future events, to solve similar problems.
Other experiments involving the same family of birds found that Caledonian crows can use up to three tools in sequence to obtain food, which the University of Oxford’s Behavioural Ecology Research Group said is the first demonstration of spontaneous sequential tool use in a species other than humans.
A study also found that rooks can use stones to raise the level of water in a vessel in order to bring a floating worm into reach.
Urban-living carrion crows have been witnessed learning to use road traffic for cracking nuts.
Amazingly the problem-solving creature performed the series of tasks without seeing the fiendishly difficult set up of the course beforehand.
The wild crow learned to use individual props during its three months of captivity but had to work out the order in which to use them to complete the challenge and get an inaccessible treat. The animal was later released.
The experiment, which was devised by Dr Alex Taylor, a Lecturer in Evolutionary Psychology based at The University of Auckland, New Zealand, features in BBC Two programme ‘Inside the Animal Mind – The Problem Solvers’.
It shows 007 completing the eight stage puzzle in approximately two-and-a-half minutes.
First the crow pulls a string attached to the branch it is perched on towards itself to reach a short stick dangling below.
The crow picks up the short stick in its mouth and stage one is complete.
007 then immediately makes its way to a narrow container containing a meaty treat and tries to use the stick to reach it – but it is too short.
The bird keeps hold of the stick and makes its way to the first of three boxes, which each contain a stone unreachable without the stick behind wooden bars.
007 then uses its stick to drag a stone from the first box and picks it up in its beak to complete stage two. But then it drops the stone, seemingly temporarily stumped as what to do with it.
However, the persistent creature picks up the stick again and retrieves a stone from the second of the boxes and then seemingly has a brainwave to place it in a separate perspex container.
007 picks up the stone it has already retrieved and posts it into the clear container too, before retrieving the final stone from the final box.
When it posts the last of the stones into the perspex box, their weight pushes down a compartment, which allows the crow to access a long stick and complete stage eight.
Armed with the long stick, the crow immediately uses it to poke inside a narrow box treat containing a treat and drag the morsel towards itself.
The clever bird is rewarded for its hard work and mental agility in completing the series of eight challenges.
Wildlife presenter Chris Packham, who presents the programme, said: ‘That was remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it.
‘Of all the bird behaviour I’ve seen, nothing matches that.
‘Inside the Animal Mind’ last aired on Tuesday 4 February ad can be seen on BBC iPlayer.
In the programme, Mr Packham explores the minds of the cleverest animals on the planet, discovering their astonishing abilities, including how bees navigate, cockatoos can pick locks and an intelligent octopus.