Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV New Caledonian
crows are well-known for their tool use but now a video reveals
the ultra 3D vision that makes them so dextrous. As this bird
fishes for a grub, it gazes down the shaft with both eyes, using
stereo vision to manipulate a stick. The clip, captured by
Jolyon Troscianko from the University of Birmingham, UK, and
colleagues, demonstrates the crow's extensive field of view,
which the researchers claim is wider than any other bird species
studied to date. Its straight bill also helps keep tools in
eyesight range. The team believes that it's the first evidence
of body features tailored for tool use in an animal other than
human-related primates. If you enjoyed this video, watch a crow
use a sequence of three tools to get at food or see how an
octopus uses coconut shells to hide when threatened.