Tag Archive for 'Corvus moneduloides'

New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) are particularly careful when handling their most valuable tools. Image credit: James St Clair.

New Caledonian Crows Prefer Hooked Stick Tools, Safely Store Them Underfoot or in Holes

Dec 22, 2021 by News Staff

According to a new study, New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) strongly prefer hooked stick tools made from stems of the ground tamarind (Desmanthus...

Identifying the raw material used by wild New Caledonian crows for manufacturing hooked stick tools: (A) New Caledonian crow holding a hooked stick tool manufactured from Desmanthus virgatus at site-2; (B) satellite photograph showing study sites on the west coast of Grande Terre, New Caledonia; (C) timeline of animal-centered approaches employed while attempting to identify the tool material used at site-3, with short explanations for their limited success; (D) timeline of the artifact-centered, DNA barcoding approach which ultimately led to successful material identification; (i) hooked stick tool recovered at site-3; (ii) Mimusops elengi trees, with close-up of a forked terminal branch, which would be suitable for tool manufacture; (iii) simplified maximum-likelihood ITS phylogenetic tree detailing clustering of tool samples and a subset of reference data; (iv) ‘refit’ of a hooked stick tool made from Mimusops elengi material by a temporarily captive crow from site-1: the tool is displayed along with stem and plant debris which were discarded by the crow during the manufacture process. Scale in mm. Image credit: Steele et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2020699118.

Scientists Use DNA Barcoding to Identify Tool Materials of New Caledonian Crows

Jul 27, 2021 by News Staff

Using a taxonomic method called DNA barcoding, researchers have identified, from just a few recovered tool specimens, the plant species New Caledonian...

A wild Siberian jay parent (left) and its retained offspring (right) foraging together. Image credit: Michael Griesser.

Study: Extended Parental Care Helps Juvenile Siberian Jays and New Caledonian Crows Grow Smarter

Jun 3, 2020 by News Staff

New research on two corvid species, Siberian jays (Perisoreus infaustus) and New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides), shows that extended family life...