Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
At least one species, the New Caledonian Crow, actually makes tools. One fascinating
captiveindividualnamedBettycanfashionahookoutofapieceofwiretoreachandpull
food out of a tube. In the wild, these birds hold pointed sticks or needles in their beaks to
extract insects from logs.
Some herons catch fish by setting out bait for them. One popular YouTube video shows
a Green Heron dropping bread in the water and moving it about while waiting for fish to
nibble at it.
Crows in urban Japan drop hard-shelled nuts onto intersections; they wait for them to be
cracked open by cars, and then retrieve them while the cars are stopped after the light
turns red.
A few species in the crow family have been documented dropping whelks (large marine
snails)andothershelledanimalsfromtheairontorocksandotherhardsurfaces;thedrop
breaks the shell and then the crow flies in for a meal.
Western Scrub-Jays can attribute their own motives to other scrub-jays — those jays that
take food from other jays' food stores are more likely to keep moving and hiding their
own food stores to prevent stealing than are “honest” jays.
ResearcherIrenePepperberg'sAfricanGrayParrot,Alex,couldidentifybywordfiftydif-
ferent objects, could recognize quantities up to six, could distinguish seven colors and
five shapes, and understood the concepts of
bigger, smaller, same,
and
different.
Many pet birds, including parrots, mynahs, and magpies, have learned to imitate human
speech. Many owners have long insisted that their birds use words in the proper context.
Although authorities have typically pooh-poohed this, Alex's well-documented ability to
use language is making many scientists take a second look at human language use in oth-
er species.
Birds Do the Strangest Things
Q I saw the funniest video of a bird doing a “moon-walk.” Was that real or was it
trick photography?
A
You were seeing a video of a Red-capped Manakin, a small, plump, colorful bird of
CentralandSouthAmerica,doingitscourtshipdance.Thevideo,whichwasfirstairedon
anepisodeof
Nature
,showsanimalbehavioristKimberlyBostwickinthefieldwiththree
different species of manakins. Each of the species has developed unique and fascinating
sound and visual displays, enhanced by specialized feathers and movements, designed to
attract females and show off the male's fitness.
Females select as mates the best dancers, which probably increases the likelihood that
theiryoungwillcarrythehighestqualitygenes.Manakinsmakesnaps,whistles,andoth-
er interesting sounds and jumps that are too fast for the human eye to follow, so Kim
filmed them with high-speed video that captures the action at 500 frames per second,
