| When I was at university, one of our Zoology | | | | Some Green Herons, Butorides virescens, will drop an |
| professors told us that a definition of Humans was the | | | | object into the water and attract fish that the bird eats. |
| tool using animal. He then proceeded to give examples | | | | This appears to be completely learned behaviour. |
| of tool use by other animals. Although his lectures | | | | Researchers are unsure about how the bird learns, or |
| were interesting, I got the impression that he was | | | | works out this. |
| prepared to bend the facts slightly for effect. | | | | Dolphins |
| Actually, the more common definition of Humans is the | | | | Tool use by sea creatures in the wild is more difficult |
| tool making animal. I, and no doubt most of the others, | | | | to observe. It has been recognised for a long time that |
| in the class knew this. | | | | Dolphins are very intelligent, so it is not surprising that |
| Tool Using Birds | | | | tool used in this fascinating creature has been |
| Several birds use tools in the wild. These include the | | | | observed. |
| Woodpecker Finch, Camarhynchus pallidus, of the | | | | In Shark Bay in Western Australia, a female Dolphin |
| Galapagos Islands. This little bird will use twigs or | | | | was seen with a marine sponge on it snout. Further |
| cactus spines to get insects of spiders out of crevices. | | | | investigation showed that it used the sponge as a |
| This behaviour may be instinctive, but the bird will go | | | | fishing aid when foraging for food on the sea bed. |
| further than just use the tools. It will select a suitable | | | | This type of tool was probably invented by one |
| one, and if it is not quite right will modify it with its beak. | | | | mother Dolphin and passed on to her female |
| So this bird is both a tool using and a tool making | | | | descendants. Only one male was seen using the |
| animal. | | | | technique. This might be because the males are more |
| Egyptian Vultures, Neophron percnopterus, will use | | | | likely to catch their prey in mid water rather than from |
| stones to break open Ostrich eggs. This behaviour | | | | the sea bed. So this appears to be learned behaviour |
| appears to be almost completely instinctive, and the | | | | that the mother has passed on to her daughters. It is |
| bird does not appear to select the best stone for | | | | not clear if the animals modify the sponges, but they |
| breaking the egg, or to modify its tool. | | | | must select suitable ones. |