Study Reveals Rooks Have Discerning Taste In Tools Researchers
have learned that rooks have the ability to make and use tools
in order to complete certain tasks. Researchers from the
University of Cambridge and Queen Mary, University of London,
noted that although rooks, which are related to New Caledonian
crows, are not known to use tools in the wild, they quickly
learned to do so in laboratory tests. "This finding is
remarkable because rooks do not appear to use tools in the wild,
yet they rival habitual tools users such as chimpanzees and New
Caledonian crows when tested in captivity," said lead author
Chris Bird of the University of Cambridge. Researchers studied
four birds in captivity: Fry, her mate Cook, as well as Connelly
and Monroe. Each of the birds successfully mastered the task of
choosing the proper stone to be dropped into a tube that would
release food from a transparent box. "We have found that they
can select the appropriate tools out of a choice of tools and
they show flexibility in the typ