Fruits and nuts are supplemented with leaves, flowers, young shoots. During the dry season when fruit is scarce, they depend on eating the pith of Scheelea palm fronds. Because of their intelligence and dexterity, capuchin monkeys have been trained to perform tasks for quadriplegics, as well as provide them companionship. However, capuchins do not recognise themselves in the mirror, only humans and chimpanzees do. So they are not considered to have true creative intelligence.
Capuchins also eat a lot of insects and spiders.
Although capuchins don't have an opposable thumb, they have very dextrous hands and can manipulate small objects and dismantle them quickly. They will also eat any bird eggs that they come across. Occasionally they may hunt smaller weaker animals such as nestling birds, squirrels, lizards, bats, and mammals up to nearly 1kg, like smaller monkeys. They are also adept at catching tree frogs that live in bamboo stems. This is a prized item, rarely shared with others in the group.