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Video of Wild Crow Tool Use Caught With Tail Cams

Posted by Zonk on from the and-bernd-heinrich-is-well-pleased dept.

willatnewscientist writes "Scientists from the University of Oxford have recorded New Caledonian crows using tools in the wild for first time. The footage was captured by attaching tiny cameras to their tail feathers. The wireless cameras weigh just 14 grammes and can be worn by the crows without disturbing their natural behavior. The trick has provided the first direct evidence of the birds' using tools in the wild and may represent an important development in animal behavior studies. 'The camera also contains a simple radio transmitter that reveals the crows' location. This lets the researchers track them at a distance of few hundred metres, so that they can catch the camera's video signal with a portable receiving dish. Up to 70 minutes of footage can be broadcast by the camera's chip, and the camera is shed once the bird moults its tail feathers.'"

8 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. Fascinating by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Scientists from the University of Oxford have recorded New Caledonian crows using tools in the wild for first time. The footage was captured by attaching tiny cameras to their tail feathers. The wireless cameras weigh just 14 grammes and can be worn by the crows without disturbing their natural behavior. The trick has provided the first direct evidence of the birds' using tools in the wild and may represent an important development in animal behavior studies.

    That's pretty neat, we have a lot of crows where I work and I've observed ravens at campgrounds which are very well practiced in employing ingenious methods of

    WHAT! WAIT!

    14 gram video camera? 70 minutes of video footage? Whoa! What's the real news for nerds story here? Damn, I need one of those cameras!!! (c= I've been fiddling with converting these webcams for astro imaging I wonder what I could take from the top of (or bottom of) a kite or one of those tiny helicopters. W0000t

    Crows, yeah, very clever birds. Probably could learn a lot from them... wow, neat camera...

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Fascinating by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 5, Funny

      Imagine a cluster of these cameras, you could film an theatre adaptation of Beowulf.

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      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  2. Now which tool do I use... by linuxwrangler · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...to get this damn camera unstuck from my tail?!?

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    ~~~~~~~
    "You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
    1. Re:Now which tool do I use... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

      Coming up on the Crow News Network: Dumpster left open behind McDonalds

      Yeah, once they discover TV it'll all be over for them, too.

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      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  3. Crows have devised a better way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=HmKO-QMyLc4

    Dropping nuts on a busy road where cars function as nutcrackers..

  4. Re:question by wthanna · · Score: 5, Funny

    would that be African or European?

  5. Re:question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    would that be African or European? African or European? Do you mean Corvus ruficollis, C. monedula, C. frugilegus, C. cornix, C. corone, C. edithae, C. rhipidurus, C. corax, C. capensis, C. albus, C. crassirostris, or C. albicollis? And what about the crows like C. monedula, C. cornix, and C. corax that are both African and European?
  6. Re:I for one... by quellen · · Score: 5, Funny

    Crows clearly have a basic understanding of caws and effect!