The Chickadee: Nature’s Secret Genius Bird-Brain
Chickadees are smarter than their tiny heads might indicate. The round little genus of birds has long been a delight for birders, but, more recently, they’ve become a fascinating study species for behavioral scientists, too!
Previously, I wrote on crow intelligence in Crows Aren’t Bird-brained, mentioning how crows shine as an example above most other birds — and, indeed, other animals, in their intellect. But, that perspective was admittedly limited and, in actuality, biology is actively discovering that our collective scientific perspective on avian intelligence is also limited!
Chickadee studies around the globe are reshaping the narrative of avian intelligence. Discover why, according to animal research, being called bird-brained might actually be a compliment.
Chickadees Have Unmatched Spatial Memory
In the early 1980s, scientists noticed the black-capped chickadee’s remarkable ability to recall a significantly large number of food storage locations they create in their habitat. The study found that not only do they know where to return to, but can also remember what sorts of food are stored where, and in what quantity they are available. Since this experiment, other studies have confirmed this with other species of the chickadee, making it clear that chickadees are particularly good at this sort of brain activity.
It’s clear that chickadees have excellent spatial memory, and more recent studies have shown that they are able to memorize thousands of food cache locations for weeks at a time — I have a strong sense that many of us humans (including myself) wouldn’t be able to accomplish such a feat as well as these little birds. Note here that some studies saw this successful recall skill after only a single moment of caching! Personally, I’d need some repetition to even approach an ability like this.
Also, according to an article published in 2016, titled Individual variation in spatial memory performance in wild mountain chickadees from different elevations, the chickadee’s ability to remember a large collection of…
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