title: A novel tool-use mode in animals: New Caledonian crows insert tools to transport objects.
abstract: New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) rely heavily on a range of tools to extract prey. They manufacture novel tools, save tools for later use, and have morphological features that facilitate tool use. We report six observations, in two individuals, of a novel tool-use mode not previously reported in non-human animals. Insert-and-transport tool use involves inserting a stick into an object and then moving away, thereby transporting both object and tool. All transported objects were non-food objects. One subject used a stick to transport an object that was too large to be handled by beak, which suggests the tool facilitated object control. The function in the other cases is unclear but seems to be an expression of play or exploration. Further studies should investigate whether it is adaptive in the wild and to what extent crows can flexibly apply the behaviour in experimental settings when purposive transportation of objects is advantageous.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3, 22100, Lund, Sweden. ivo.jacobs@lucs.lu.se.
authors.forename: Ivo F
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2182-7686
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, 82319, Seewiesen, Germany.|Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3PS, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Auguste
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Bayern
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3, 22100, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osvath
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D046368:Crows; D053001:Tool Use Behavior
keywords: New Caledonian crow; Object exploration; Play; Tool transport; Tool use