Crow peeling a peanut

(re-post)

A crow will take an unshelled peanut, get rid of the shell, and then remove the thin brown skin before eating the peanut.  I wonder why.  (Something to do with the texture, I have been told.  ?)

First it grips the peanut:

Then it begins to peck away at the shell.

I would need to do (a great deal!) more observation to decide if there is a pattern or a routine, either generally or individually,  to the shell removal:  there is definitely a rhythm.

Finally the peanut is 'just right' and crow may gulp it down whole, or peck it in two and pop each piece in its mouth.  At times it will delicately eat the peanut in tiny pieces. It would likely take me years to figure that all out.

The hull.  I find it quite a work of art.

Posted on May 15, 2013 at 02:30 PM | Permalink

A crow will take an unshelled peanut, get rid of the shell, and then remove the thin brown skin before eating the peanut.  I wonder why.  (Something to do with the texture, I have been told.  ?)

First it grips the peanut:

Then it begins to peck away at the shell.

I would need to do (a great deal!) more observation to decide if there is a pattern or a routine, either generally or individually,  to the shell removal:  there is definitely a rhythm.

Finally the peanut is 'just right' and crow may gulp it down whole, or peck it in two and pop each piece in its mouth.  At times it will delicately eat the peanut in tiny pieces. It would likely take me years to figure that all out.

The hull.  I find it quite a work of art.