Sharing food increases social networking in crows

Similar to humans gathering and sharing gossip around the water-cooler at work, crows mix with other social groups and swap information with them much more when there is food to share. An international team including scientists at the University of Bath has studied social networks to understand how information might spread within and between groups of tool-using New Caledonian crows, according to a paper published in Nature . Using tools to get food. The New Caledonian crow is well-known for its ability to make and use tools to winkle nutritious insects out of their hiding places. Dr James St Clair, former PhD student at Bath and now at the University of St Andrews is lead author of the study. He explained: "Tool-use is unusual in animals, and requires special knowledge. Individuals not only need to know how to make tools, but also where, when and how to actually use them.