Posted on 03/08/2006 6:42:13 AM PST by GreenFreeper
OTTAWA (AFP) - The tiny Rufous hummingbird is able to recall where and when it last dined on the sweet nectar of flowers, according to new research, proving bird brains are smarter than first thought.
The study found the bird, with a brain no bigger than a grain of rice and which feeds on hundreds of flowers each day, could pinpoint the location of flowers it had visited and when the bit of nectar in each would be replenished.
Such episodic memory was previously thought to be exclusive to humans.
"This shows that animals have better memories than we thought and that you don't need a large brain for some complex tasks," study co-author Andrew Hurly told AFP.
"This is an animal whose brain is 7,000 times smaller than ours. It's pretty remarkable that they can combine space information and time intervals together and update them constantly throughout the day. It's a very sophisticated thing to do," the biology professor at the University of Lethbridge in western Canada said.
The groundbreaking study by Canadian and British scientists was published Tuesday in the journal Current Biology.
Scientists followed three rust-colored male birds during their summer migration through Canada's Rocky Mountains, recording how often they visited eight artificial flowers filled with a sucrose solution.
Half of the flowers were refilled at 10-minute intervals and the rest at 20-minute intervals after they had been sucked dry.
Researchers found the birds soon returned to the flowers according to the refill schedule.
Hurly speculated its special cognitive skills are necessary for the hummingbird's survival.
The birds, which weigh a mere 3.2 grams, migrate from southern United States and Mexico to breeding grounds in Alaska, traveling some 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) -- the longest known bird migration proportionate to size.
"It would be a waste of time for a hummingbird to return to (spent) flowers. It would be using too much energy. Hummingbirds are so tiny and their hearts beat so fast, it's really important for them to forage efficiently," Hurly said.
Previous experiments with laboratory animals found similar abilities after extensive training, but this is the first such observation in the wild where the subjects may be distracted by predators, courtships or other, he said.
"This is not a bird sitting on a perch in a quiet laboratory and trying to remember the time lapse between a beep and food being delivered."
It is funny that the smallest bird can be very mean.
I have seen them chase cats away from a tree where they are nesting.
They are aggressive little peckers, for sure.
Wow, you must have a terrific zoom lens or a very calm hummingbird. Beautiful!
Note to self: when this storm passes, put the feeders out.
Has it stopped raining in Seattle ?
Nope! Yesterday wasn't too bad, but a storm's moving in today. Redundant, I know.
Lots of wonderful snow for the ski resorts!
My son lives in West Seattle. Last time we visited, I saw grass growing on the tree moss.
:) Or if ours sees a deer...she goes out there every single day and looks towards the same spot. :) We had a couple coyotes the other day and now she goes into the yard and looks that same direction and barks. :)
The Hummingbirds are unique creatures and so very beautiful. We look forward to their arrival every year and we are saddened when they depart in the fall. :)
The big impression that the baby left on me was that he was so clumsy--the birds we see are so athletic and astonishing in their clever maneuvers that it's hard to imagine them falling onto flowers, then onto the ground, and being all-around clutzy.
So we fed him on impatiens blossoms until he wasn't clumsy anymore and he flew away after a couple of days.
He was about the size of a cashew nut, and would fall into a swoon if you closed your hand about him. Scared me, because I thought he was dead, but woke up as soon light and air hit him.
What a beauty!
My mother used to live on property that bordered the Bear River just north of Sacramento, and there were swarms of Black-Chinned Hummers with their brilliant purple throats. My stepdad would fill three of the big feeders four times a day for the little guys. I used to sit on the stairs leading up to the roof and watch them, and sometimes I'd find myself in the middle of the swarm.
Oh, to have had a camera!
Not entirely true, they don't all do it but some have been photographed
hitching a ride..
Oh, I would love to see a picture of that, do you have one? The geese don't migrate here, stay all winter. Fascinating.
I saw a pic from a telephoto lens taken from a small airplane maybe 30 years ago. It was in an outdoor magazine.
Ever been in the midst of a fight among them? I was in my garden once when a couple must have been battling over something....I just stood there as they whipped around me. (I don't think I was wearing flowers...LOL)
You may not have had a camera, but you still have the picture.
How did they ask the bird?
Could it be the bird just had a routine.
Little guy is saying grace?
A clue to why Democrats don't go extinct.
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