unique qualities. Woodpecker finches insert twigs into trees in order to catch or impale larvae. Parrots may use tools to wedge nuts so that they can crack open the outer shell of nuts without launching away the inner contents. Some birds take advantage of human activity, such as carrion crows in Japan, which drop nuts in front of cars to crack them open. Several species of fish use tools to hunt and crack open shellfish, extract food that is out of reach, or clear an area for nesting. Among cephalopods (and perhaps uniquely or to an extent unobserved among invertebrates), octopuses are known to use tools relatively frequently, such as gathering coconut shells to create a shelter or using rocks to create barriers. Non-material usage By extension, concepts which support systematic or investigative thought are often referred to as "tools", for example Vanessa Dye refers to "tools of reflection" and "tools to help sharpen your professional practice" for trainee teachers, illustrating the connection between physical and conceptual tools by quoting the French scientist Claude Bernaud: Similarly, a decision-making process "developed to help women and their partners make confident and informed decisions when planning where to give birth" is described as a "Birth Choice tool": and the idea of a "toolkit" is used by the International Labour Organization to describe a set of processes applicable to improving global labour relations. the ILO Industrial Relations Global Toolkit. A telephone is a communication tool that interfaces between two people engaged in conversation at one level. It also interfaces between each user and the communication network at another level. It is in the domain of media and communications technology that a counter-intuitive aspect of our relationships with our tools first began to gain popular recognition. John M. Culkin famously said, "We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us". This has been interpreted as how "Humans create inspiring and empowering technologies but also are influenced, augmented, manipulated, and even imprisoned by technology". See also Antique tool Ergonomics List of timber framing tools Tool library Toolbank Toolmaker References External links Industrial equipment Tools ceb:Himan