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10/13/06

It reminds me of something that occurred on a field trip decades ago. Our biology class van made a stop at an expansive wet meadow between Rainy Pass and Washington Pass. I found a small shoot of a White-barked pine out in the middle. There was no way for the heavy seed to have been wafted there by the wind. Looking up at thhe high ridge to the north were alpine larches, for whatever that has to do with this. Anyway, at the time I suspected it was cached there by a forgetful Clark's Nutcracker.

Phil Hotlen
Bellingghham, WA
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Ian Paulsen <birdbooker at zipcon.net>
> HI:
> FYI
>
> --
>
> Ian Paulsen
> Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
> A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
> "Rallidae all the way!"
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:48:59 -0600 (MDT)
> From: Richard W. Travsky <rtravsky at uwyo.edu>
> To: dinosaur at usc.edu
> Subject: How Many Cache Locations Can A Bird Remember?
>
>
>
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061012094818.htm
> ...
> 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.
> ...
>
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