New Caledonian crows keep 'valuable' hooked tools safer than basic non-hooked tools.

ABSTRACT: The temporary storage and re-use of tools can significantly enhance foraging efficiency. New Caledonian crows in one of our study populations use two types of stick tools - hooked and non-hooked - which differ in raw material, manufacture costs, and foraging performance. Using a large sample of wild-caught, temporarily captive New Caledonian crows, we investigated experimentally whether individuals prefer one tool type over the other when given a choice and whether they take better care of their preferred tools between successive episodes of use, safely storing them underfoot or in nearby holes. Crows strongly preferred hooked stick tools made from Desmanthus virgatus stems over non-hooked stick tools. Importantly, this preference was also reflected in subsequent tool-handling behav

SUBMITTER: Klump BC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8691834 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature