Clever rooks can recreate Aesop's fable
In the classic Aesop fable "The crow and the pitcher," a thirsty crow used stones to raise the level of water in a pitcher and quench its thirst.But now, thousands of years later, researchers say it could have been based on fact, as rooks have recreated the task in the scientist lab.
Four of the intelligent birds, which belong to the crow family, where given a test tube containing a tasty looking worm and a low level of water along with a pile of stones.
All of the birds were able to understand that by dropping the stones in the tube would raise the water level and bring the worm within reach.
Aptly named researcher Chris Bird (we are not making this up) said that while rooks don't use tools in the wild this proved the could if they wanted.
"Rooks do not use tools in the wild because they do not need to, not because they can't. They have access to other food that can be acquired without using tools," said Bird.
He added that the discovery fits nicely with Aesop's maxim: "Necessity is the mother of invention."
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University of Cambridge
