Abstract
The emergence of flexible tool use is rare in the animal kingdom and thought to be largely constrained by either cognitive ability or ecological factors. That mostly birds with a high level of intelligence innovate tool use in captivity is consistent with the former hypothesis. We report here the first documented case of habitual tool use innovated in the wild by a bird species only known to have used tools in captivity. Trap-boxes containing food-bait and snap-trap(s) were installed in the remote Murchison Mountains, New Zealand, from 2002 to catch introduced stoats. Kea tampered with the trap-boxes in various ways. Over approximately 2.5 years, sticks were found inserted into at least 227 different trap-boxes that were up to 27 km apart. Video footage confirmed that the stick insertion was kea tool use. Trap-boxes are unlikely to have provided the only possibility for kea tool use in their habitat given their extractive foraging and skilled object manipulation. We argue that they instead greatly facilitated the opportunity for tool use, thus increasing the chance that kea would invent the behaviour. The innovation of tool use by kea in response to facilitation provides rare field support for the cognitive constraints hypothesis.
Highlights
The emergence of flexible tool use is rare in the animal kingdom and thought to be largely constrained by either cognitive ability or ecological factors
A prediction of the cognitive-constraints hypothesis is that tool use should more likely emerge in species that have a high level of physical cognition and object manipulation skills, especially when the opportunity for the behaviour is facilitated compared to natural conditions
A Department of Conservation (DOC) report for the Takahe Programme for the period 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 notes that stick insertion was a significant problem, with up to 70% of snap-traps sprung in some areas[36]
Summary
The emergence of flexible tool use is rare in the animal kingdom and thought to be largely constrained by either cognitive ability or ecological factors. Trap-boxes are unlikely to have provided the only possibility for kea tool use in their habitat given their extractive foraging and skilled object manipulation. We argue that they instead greatly facilitated the opportunity for tool use, increasing the chance that kea would invent the behaviour. A prediction of the cognitive-constraints hypothesis is that tool use should more likely emerge in species that have a high level of physical cognition and object manipulation skills, especially when the opportunity for the behaviour is facilitated compared to natural conditions. Common name Wedge-tailed eagle Northwestern crow Eclectus parrot Yellow-crowned parakeet Eurasian oyster catcher Blue-fronted Amazon parrot Yellow-crowned parrot Moluccan cockatoo Bare-eyed cockatoo Lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo Sandhill crane Bald eagle Kea African grey parrot Striped owl Rook Blue jay Marsh tit Goffin’s cockatoo Greater vasa parrot Eurasian jay Scientific name Aqulia audax Corvus caurinus Eclectus roratus Cyanoramphus auriceps Haematopus ostralegus Amazona aestiva Amazona ochrocephala Cacatua moluccensis Cacatua sanguinea Cacatua sulphurea Grus canadensis Haliaeetus leucocephalus Nestor notabilis Psittacus erithacus Rhinoptynx clamator Corvus frugilegus Cyanocitta cristata Parus palustris Cacatua goffiniana Coracopsis vasa Garrulus glandarius
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