Abstract
In scatter-hoarding species, several behavioral and neuroanatomical adaptations allow them to store and retrieve thousands of food items per year. Nectarivorous animals face a similar scenario having to remember quality, location and replenishment schedules of several nectar sources. In the green-backed firecrown hummingbird (Sephanoides sephanoides), males are territorial and have the ability to accurately keep track of nectar characteristics of their defended food sources. In contrast, females display an opportunistic strategy, performing rapid intrusions into males territories. In response, males behave aggressively during the non-reproductive season. In addition, females have higher energetic demands due to higher thermoregulatory costs and travel times. The natural scenario of this species led us to compared cognitive abilities and hippocampal size between males and females. Males were able to remember nectar location and renewal rates significantly better than females. However, the hippocampal formation was significantly larger in females than males. We discuss these findings in terms of sexually dimorphic use of spatial resources and variable patterns of brain dimorphisms in birds.
Highlights
Cognitive abilities, such as learning and memory are pivotal to behavioral performance of animals
Spatiotemporal memory, which allows individuals to recall time and location of items simultaneously, can be especially important for animals that rely in non-visual cues to retrieve food items
Several studies have shown that spatial memory abilities are involved in cache retrieval in food-caching species [8,9,10], and these species show better cognitive abilities in comparison with non-caching species [11,12]
Summary
Cognitive abilities, such as learning and memory are pivotal to behavioral performance of animals. Scatterhoarding species store food in multiple locations dispersed throughout their home range These animals, like corvids (nutcrackers, jays) and parids (tits and chickadees), can store as much as 100,000 to 500,000 individual caches per year [5,6,7]. In this context, several studies have shown that spatial memory abilities are involved in cache retrieval in food-caching species [8,9,10], and these species show better cognitive abilities in comparison with non-caching species [11,12]. Several studies have shown that lesioning the HF in scatter-hoarding bird species severely disrupt food retrieval performance [15,16]
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