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Clark's Nutcracker

By clock on October 13, 2006.

You may remember that Clark's Nutcracker is one of my favourite birds, so I'll be watching this guy (I am assuming he got his PhD with Nikki Clayton):

Researcher Uncovering Mysteries Of Memory By Studying Clever Bird:

Scientists at the University of New Hampshire hope to learn more about memory and its evolution by studying the Clark's nutcracker, a bird with a particularly challenging task: remembering where it buried its supply of food for winter in a 15-mile area. Like many animals preparing for the winter, every fall the Clark's nutcracker spends several weeks gathering food stores. What makes it unique is that it harvests more than 30,000 pine nuts, buries them in up to 5,000 caches, and then relies almost solely on its memory of where those caches are located to survive through winter.

Tags
animal behavior
birds

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