Is tool use a known behavior in the black-capped chickadee?
The birds seem to consider the challenges of a particular crevice as they select a probe, sometimes stripping off a leaf that would keep a twig from sliding deep. the birds show a predisposition to fiddle with twigs during a sensitive period as juveniles. In the right environment, they seem to develop proficiency largely through trial and error, Tebbich and her colleagues report in the Nov. 7 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON B. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_19_160/ai_80393518 Plenty of animals use tools. Among birds, for example, Egyptian vultures toss rocks at ostrich eggs until the shells break. Green-backed herons sometimes drop bits of food into a stream as bait, repositioning it if currents start to sweep it away. Before the new finch work, however, experiments hadn’t investigated how birds pick up such skills, according to Taborsky. Mounting tiny video cameras
