Strong between-site variation in New Caledonian crows' use of hook-tool-making materials

James St Clair; Barbara Christina Klump; Jessica Eva Megan van der Wal; Shoko Sugasawa; Christian Rutz

doi:10.1111/bij.12757

Strong between-site variation in New Caledonian crows' use of hook-tool-making materials

James St Clair, Barbara Christina Klump, Jessica Eva Megan van der Wal, Shoko Sugasawa, Christian Rutz

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Functional tool use requires the selection of appropriate raw materials. New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides are known for their extraordinary tool-making behaviour, including the crafting of hooked stick tools from branched vegetation. We describe a surprisingly strong between-site difference in the plant materials used by wild crows to manufacture these tools: crows at one study site use branches of the non-native shrub Desmanthus virgatus, whereas only approximately 7 km away, birds apparently ignore this material in favour of the terminal twigs of an as-yet-unidentified tree species. Although it is likely that differences in local plant communities drive this striking pattern, it remains to be determined how and why crows develop such strong site-specific preferences for certain raw materials.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	226-232
Number of pages	7
Journal	Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Volume	118
Issue number	2
Early online date	13 Jan 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12757
Publication status	Published - Jun 2016

Keywords

Construction behaviour
Corvid
Cumulative culture
Extractive foraging
Innovation
Material culture
Raw materials selectivity
Tool manufacture
Tool selectivity
Tool use

Access to Document

10.1111/bij.12757Licence: CC BY

StClair_et_al-2016-Biol_J_Linnean_Soc_CC-BY
© 2016 The Authors. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2016, This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Final published version, 310 KBLicence: CC BY

Fellowship - The ecological cultural: The ecological cultural and cognitive context of tool use in New Caledonian crows
Rutz, C. (PI)
BBSRC
2/06/12 → 1/09/15
Project: Fellowship

Studies on the foraging behaviour of New Caledonian crows
van der Wal, J. E. M. (Author), Rutz, C. (Supervisor), 27 Jun 2018
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis (PhD)

Cite this

@article{c605aaec7ac94b94867352eaaacaa038,

title = "Strong between-site variation in New Caledonian crows' use of hook-tool-making materials",

abstract = "Functional tool use requires the selection of appropriate raw materials. New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides are known for their extraordinary tool-making behaviour, including the crafting of hooked stick tools from branched vegetation. We describe a surprisingly strong between-site difference in the plant materials used by wild crows to manufacture these tools: crows at one study site use branches of the non-native shrub Desmanthus virgatus, whereas only approximately 7 km away, birds apparently ignore this material in favour of the terminal twigs of an as-yet-unidentified tree species. Although it is likely that differences in local plant communities drive this striking pattern, it remains to be determined how and why crows develop such strong site-specific preferences for certain raw materials.",

keywords = "Construction behaviour, Corvid, Cumulative culture, Extractive foraging, Innovation, Material culture, Raw materials selectivity, Tool manufacture, Tool selectivity, Tool use",

author = "{St Clair}, James and Klump, {Barbara Christina} and {van der Wal}, {Jessica Eva Megan} and Shoko Sugasawa and Christian Rutz",

note = "The study was funded through a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship (grants BB/G023913/1 and BB/G023913/2 to CR) and doctoral studentships from the BBSRC (BK), JASSO (SS), and the School of Biology, University of St Andrews (JvdW).",

year = "2016",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1111/bij.12757",

language = "English",

volume = "118",

pages = "226--232",

journal = "Biological Journal of the Linnean Society",

issn = "0024-4066",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Strong between-site variation in New Caledonian crows' use of hook-tool-making materials

AU - St Clair, James

AU - Klump, Barbara Christina

AU - van der Wal, Jessica Eva Megan

AU - Sugasawa, Shoko

AU - Rutz, Christian

N1 - The study was funded through a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship (grants BB/G023913/1 and BB/G023913/2 to CR) and doctoral studentships from the BBSRC (BK), JASSO (SS), and the School of Biology, University of St Andrews (JvdW).

PY - 2016/6

Y1 - 2016/6

N2 - Functional tool use requires the selection of appropriate raw materials. New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides are known for their extraordinary tool-making behaviour, including the crafting of hooked stick tools from branched vegetation. We describe a surprisingly strong between-site difference in the plant materials used by wild crows to manufacture these tools: crows at one study site use branches of the non-native shrub Desmanthus virgatus, whereas only approximately 7 km away, birds apparently ignore this material in favour of the terminal twigs of an as-yet-unidentified tree species. Although it is likely that differences in local plant communities drive this striking pattern, it remains to be determined how and why crows develop such strong site-specific preferences for certain raw materials.

AB - Functional tool use requires the selection of appropriate raw materials. New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides are known for their extraordinary tool-making behaviour, including the crafting of hooked stick tools from branched vegetation. We describe a surprisingly strong between-site difference in the plant materials used by wild crows to manufacture these tools: crows at one study site use branches of the non-native shrub Desmanthus virgatus, whereas only approximately 7 km away, birds apparently ignore this material in favour of the terminal twigs of an as-yet-unidentified tree species. Although it is likely that differences in local plant communities drive this striking pattern, it remains to be determined how and why crows develop such strong site-specific preferences for certain raw materials.

KW - Construction behaviour

KW - Corvid

KW - Cumulative culture

KW - Extractive foraging

KW - Innovation

KW - Material culture

KW - Raw materials selectivity

KW - Tool manufacture

KW - Tool selectivity

KW - Tool use

U2 - 10.1111/bij.12757

DO - 10.1111/bij.12757

M3 - Article

SN - 0024-4066

VL - 118

SP - 226

EP - 232

JO - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

JF - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

IS - 2

ER -

Strong between-site variation in New Caledonian crows' use of hook-tool-making materials

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

Fellowship - The ecological cultural: The ecological cultural and cognitive context of tool use in New Caledonian crows

Student theses

Studies on the foraging behaviour of New Caledonian crows

Cite this