>
> Yes, bc chickadees do stash food.
> A couple of years ago I was feeding a couple bold chickadees at
> North Seattle Community Collete and one bird in particular kept
> coming back quicker than the others.
> Watching it closely, I saw it sometimes shell the sunflower seed,
> sometimes not, then stuff it between bark on trees and
> into cracks on large blackberry vines.x
> ...
>
> > Having just installed a feeder in the garden I was intrigued to see the
> > black-capped chickadees collecting the sunflower seeds from the mix and
> > apparently hiding them, by wedging the seed into the gap between the panelling
> > on the side of the neighbours house.
> > ...

A few years ago, I read somewhere (Scientific American?, New York Times science
page?) that chickadees actually have the ability to generate new neurons in
their brains. Apparently, the rate of new cell development is seasonal. This
led one researcher to theorize that this ability makes it easier for them to
build the mental maps they need to remember where they stashed all those seeds!

dean
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| Dean Wampler, Ph.D. email: dean at amc.com |
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