'Crowboarding' bird goes viral

A video of a fun-loving crow seemingly using a jar lid to 'snowboard' down a snow-covered roof has gone viral on YouTube.

The one minute 24 second clip of the bird, captured by a family in Russia, has notched up nearly 250,000 hits in just two days.

The hooded crow is seen taking advantage of the chilly winter weather to repeatedly slide down the roof on the round jar lid.

After the enterprising bird successfully slides down the roof, he picks up his lid and flies back to the top to try again.

The second time around, it tries sliding over a bare patch of roof but quickly realises that snow works much better than roof tiles.

The family who captured the moment watched the bird in awe. "Maybe it is teasing us," one of the children says.

Research has revealed that crows are fiercely intelligent, with powerful memories, planning skills and the ability to trick other animals.