This is a test.  For the next 3+ minutes wild New Caledonian crows will solve six physics problems in water displacement.

What will raise the floating treat?  If there are two treats which method is fastest?  The challenges are:

1. Sand versus Water:  Will the crow know that there’s no point in dropping stones onto sand?
2. Light versus Heavy objects:  Do heavy objects work better than light ones?
3. Solid versus Hollow objects: Do solid objects work better than hollow ones even though the hollow objects weigh the same?
4. Narrow water column versus Wide:  Which column takes longer to elevate?
5. High versus Low water:  Is it faster to get the treat when the water is already close to the top?
6. U-tube with a hidden connection:  Very hard! Will the crow figure out that one of the wide tubes governs the water level in the narrow one?

In the video the crows solve every problem but behind the scenes they faltered on the U-tube test so the scientists say they flunked it.

How quickly can you solve these physics problems?  Be quick on the U-tube test or else …

This experiment was tried with New Caledonian crows, Eurasian jays, and human children.  Read all about it here in PLOS One.

My favorite quote from the Discussion is: “The results from the current U-tube experiment suggest that New Caledonian crows are comparable to Eurasian jays, but differ from human children.”   😉

(video from PLOS Media on YouTube)