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The pitcher and the crow

August 10, 2009 by bb-pawprint

$0$0$0$0“It’s the fable about a thirsty crow. The bird comes acrossa pitcher with the water level too low for him to reach. The crow raises thewater level by dropping stones into the pitcher. (Moral: Little by little doesthe trick, or in other retellings, necessity is the mother of invention.)” – Associated Press$0$0Being a Social Science Research major, I am fascinated with behavior. I am only interested in the New York Times for its Science Times Tuesday’s section. While browsing my email, I came across this interesting article by the Associated Press. Being such an official brand, I never read anything from the AP becauseI thought it would either be a) too intelligent for me to comprehend or b) too boring for me to stay interested.$0$0But on Thursday, I came across the article “Bird experiment shows Aesop’s fable may be true” which spoke about an amazing scientific revelation – maybe it’snot just primates that use tools, maybe birds do too.$0$0It’s a bit hard to believe, but scientists have found that rooks are capable of using tools. In one observation, a worm was in a pitcher of water and exposed to a hungry crow. The crow used little pebbles to increase the volume of the water, causing the worm to rise to the surface.$0$0“Christopher Bird of Cambridge University and a colleague exposed the rooks to a 6-inch-tall clear plastic tube containing water, with a worm on its surface. The birds used the stone-dropping trick spontaneously and appeared to estimate how many stones they would need. They learned quickly that larger stones work better.” – AP$0$0Wow, it definitely amazed me that birds would actually be able to estimate how many stones they needed. I wouldn’t know what to do… $0$0But in the midst of being amazed… I realized why humans were superior. The bird may have been able to use tools to get what it needed, even calculate how manystones to use… but if it were me….$0$0$0I would’ve just knocked the pitcher over, made a mess and got the worm – no math.$0$0I never did fit the stereotype.$0$0$0

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