The really amazing part is that crows do this in the wild by fashioning similar ‘hooks’ from twigs. Twigs that they select, break off, strip off the foliage, and then finally trim up any long pieces that may get in the way. The fact that there’s adaptability to the concept shows some degree of intelligence.
Makes sense. They have to bend twigs all of the time to make a nest. Apparently, some of them figured out that they could use those bent twigs for other uses.