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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wi...-alligators-use-sticks-to-fish-for-birds.html
They are the ultimate ambush predators – capable of lying perfectly on the bottom of a river until the right moment to strike.
But it seems crocodiles are even sneakier than had been previously believed – they use twigs to lure nesting birds into their jaws.
Researchers noticed both mugger crocodiles, which are found in India, and American alligators in Louisiana, used small sticks to “fish” for the birds.
It is thought to be the first time reptiles have been found to use tools – something that was thought to be restricted to apes and intelligent birds such as crows.
The findings suggest that crocodiles and alligators are far more intelligent than has been previously thought.
Dr Vladimir Dinets, a researcher at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville who led the research, said: "This study changes the way crocodiles have historically been viewed.
"They are typically seen as lethargic, stupid and boring but now they are known to exhibit flexible multimodal signalling, advanced parental care and highly coordinated group hunting tactics.
“It provides a surprising insight into previously unrecognised complexity of archosaurian behaviour.”
Crocodiles and are among the last remaining predators from the time of the dinosaurs and have remained virtually unchanged for millions of years.
Dr Dinets and his colleagues spent a year observing alligators in Louisiana at two rookeries used by great egrets, snowy egrets, white ibis and spoonbills. Their findings are published in the journal Ethology, Ecology and Evolution.
They observed alligators collected twigs and balanced them across their snouts as they floated in the water.
This behaviour was only seen during the birds’ breeding season – between March and June.
The scientists claim the sticks were then used as lures to bring birds within striking distance of the alligators’ jaws.
Dr Dinets also reported similar behaviour witnessed by mugger crocodiles at the Madras Crocodile Bank near Chennai in India.
He said if birds got close enough the crocodiles would lunge for them.
Dr Dinets said: "The crocs and 'gators find floating sticks, submerge nearby and then re-surface from underneath the sticks, masterfully balancing them on their snouts.
"In the tropics, mugger crocs can be seen doing it at any time of year.
“Large muggers lay in shallow water along the edge of the pond with small sticks or twigs positioned across their snouts.
“The crocodiles remained perfectly still for hours and they did move to change position, they did it in such a way that the sticks remained balanced on their snouts.
“On one occasion, an intermediate egret approached one of the crocodiles and stretched its neck towards the stick. The crocodile lunged at the bird.”
"Up north, where birds have a short breeding season, gators mostly do it in early spring, when egrets are busy building nests.
"At that time around egret colonies small sticks are in short supply, and egrets are desperately looking for them.
"So sometimes they try to get the ones from the reptiles' noses, either by wading up to them or by flying low over them to snatch them. But crocs and gators are very fast hunters, and they catch those birds."
Dr Dinets said that juvenile alligators did not seem to use sticks to lure birds, perhaps because their heads were too narrow.
He believes tool use may in fact be more widespread in reptiles than has previously been recognised and the results may also help shed some light onto their extinct relatives, the dinosaurs.
He said: “At least on of the species we looked at uses this method predominantly during the nest building season of its prey.
“This is the first known case of a predator not just using objects as lures, but also taking into account the seasonality of prey behaviour.
"These discoveries are interesting not just because they show how easy it is to underestimate the intelligence of even relatively familiar animals, but also because crocodilians are a sister taxon of dinosaurs and flying reptiles."
