American Crow Cracks Open Bivalve via Automobile

Abstract

here have been many observations of corvids placing a hard-shelled food item onto a roadway, then consuming the food exposed when a passing automobile crushes the shell. However, it has been debated whether corvids perform this behavior intentionally. Our observation of an American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) placing a bivalve on a road, then eating the meat exposed when the shell was run over, supports the idea that corvids intentionally use cars to crack shelled foods.