BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-04)

WILDNEWS

Pu

n: James Shooter/Nature in Stock/FLPA; pu

n research: Fayet et al; wolf pups: Tim Fitzharris/naturepl.com; Guam rail: Greg Hume/Creative Commons

FINDOUTMORE

PNAS:bit.ly/2HnEd1o

Pickupsticks:Atlantic

punstwighowtousetools

Twobirds– 1,700kmapart– havebeenseen scratching

themselves with sticks held in their bills.

BEHAVIOUR

Ontheotherhand,it mightyet

turnoutthatthebirdsweresimply

performinga rarecombinationof

behavioursthat,together,happenedto

lookratherlikepurposefultool-use.

“IfI hadjustseenbehaviourthatis in

thevideothenI don’tthinkthatI would

havethought‘Ah,tooluse.’However,I

canseehowtheotherobservationcould

maketheinvestigatorsthinkdifferently,”

saysJonathanGreen,a seabirdecologist

attheUniversityofLiverpool,whowas

notinvolvedintheresearch.“Acritical

roleofscientificpapersis tostimulate

debateandencourageotherinvestigators

toreflectontheirownexperimentsand

observations.Certainly,I mightlook

onthefunnythingsthatseabirds do

differently in future.”SB

C

hanceobservations– oneinIceland

andtheotherinWales– suggest

thatAtlanticpuffinsshouldbeadded

toanexclusivelistofspeciescapable

ofusingtools.

BothreportsweremadebyAnnette

FayetoftheUniversityofOxford.The

firsttookplaceontheWelshislandof

Skomer, whereFayetwatcheda puffin

usinga stickheldinits

billtoscratchitsback

foraboutfiveseconds.

Thesecond,inwhich

a birdbrieflyscratched

itsbreast,wascaught

onvideo.

“Ionlyrealised

onceI wentthrough

allthevideosa

fewmonthslater,”

saysFayet.“I’dactually

deployedthecamera-

trapstostudytheirdietandchick-

provisioningbehaviour,soI wasnot

expectingit.”

Puffinsarenotthefirstbirds

tobeseenusingtools– the

crowsofNewCaledonia

areprobablythemost

celebratedexample

• whilechimps,
  elephantsand
  parrots all

D I D Y O U

KNOW?

A puffin’senormousbill

radiatesheat,keeping

thebirdcoolonthe

longandfrequent

foragingflightsit

undertakesduring

the nesting season.

scratchthemselveswithsticks.But

puffinswouldbethefirstseabirdstobe

seendoingeither.

Fayetsuspectsthebehaviourservesto

scratchanitchordislodgeticksorother

parasites.Shesaysshe’snowthinking

aboutexperimentstotesttheidea.“You

wouldexpectthebehaviourtobemore

likelytooccurinpopulationsoryears

where parasite loads are high.”

A resourceful

pun’sbehaviour

wascaughton

camera.