Should the taunt “bird brain” be viewed as a compliment?

Scientist John Marzluff’s interest in corvids extends to worldwide species. He starts his TED talk by introducing the tool-making ability of the New Caledonian crow.

He begins by explaining that New Caledonia is an island that has no woodpeckers to harvest larvae commonly found under tree bark and tree detritus. Therefore, that food source is available to an animal who can somehow approximate the long tongue of a woodpecker.

The New Caledonian crow has developed the capability to harvest this food source, by using tools.

You will see in this video the experiment by which Oxford scientists, in 2002, researched the tool-making ability of the New Caledonian crow.

Dr. Marzluff mentions that the American crows has a larger brain, relative to body size, than the New Caledonian crow.

He then strikes a comparison between the brain structures of crows and humans.

He also discusses another member of the corvid family, the raven, and shows an example of raven play.

Dr. Marzluff’s credentials listed under the above video, entitled “Crows Are Smarter Than You Think,” includes the following:

John Marzluff, Ph.D., is the James W. Ridgeway Professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington. His research has been the focus of articles in the New York Times, National Geographic, Audubon, Boys Life, The Seattle Times, and National Wildlife. PBS’s NATURE featured his raven research in its production, “Ravens,” and his crow research in the film documentary, “A Murder of Crows”.

Dr. Marzluff presented the above TEDx Ranier talk in late 2013, at an independently funded (the “x” in TEDx) series of talks, the largest TEDx event in the Pacific Northwest of 2013.

Click next page to see Joshua Klein’s TED Talk in March, 2008, also referencing the 2002 Oxford discovery of Betty the Crow’s tool-making ability. Klein visualized his own amateur crow-testing project, built it, implemented the testing, and shared his results.