Rook: a two-minute wildlife lesson
In experiments, rooks learned to roll a stone down a tube to knock food off a platform, and to bend wire into a hook to fish out a treat.
Clever Birds · day 2 of 7
Five facts
- In experiments, rooks learned to roll a stone down a tube to knock food off a platform, and to bend wire into a hook to fish out a treat.
- In tests, rooks seemed to grasp gravity about as well as a six-month-old baby, and did better than chimpanzees.
- Rooks stride across fields, poking their strong beaks into the soil to find their main food: earthworms and insect grubs.
- In the morning, rooks can scatter up to 10 km (6 mi) from their night roosts.
- A rook mother lays usually three to five blotchy eggs and sits on them for 16 to 18 days while the father brings her food.
The quiz
1. What do captive rooks bend into hooks to get food?
- Wire (correct)
- Grass
- Leaves
- Feathers
In experiments, rooks learned to bend wire into a hook to reach food.
2. In tests, a rook's sense of gravity was compared to whose?
- A house cat
- A ten-year-old child
- A six-month-old infant (correct)
- A parrot
Rooks seemed to grasp gravity about as well as a six-month-old baby, and better than chimpanzees.
3. What is a rook's main food, found by probing the soil?
- Fish
- Earthworms and insect grubs (correct)
- Flower nectar
- Pine needles
Rooks poke the soil with their strong beaks to find earthworms and insect grubs.
4. How far can rooks scatter from their night roosts in the morning?
- Up to 1 km
- Up to 3 km
- Up to 100 km
- Up to 10 km (correct)
Rooks can scatter up to 10 km from their night roosts.
5. For how long does a rook mother incubate her eggs?
- 5-6 days
- 30-33 days
- 16-18 days (correct)
- Two months
The mother incubates her eggs for 16-18 days while the father feeds her.
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