Spatial cues for cache retrieval by black-capped chickadees

Abstract

Abstract. Food-storing birds relocate scattered caches of food using surrounding features and objects as visual cues to the location of caches. Black-capped chickadees, Parus atricapillus, were observed storing food in an enclosure in which the visual cues available to the birds could be controlled. In the first experiment, distal objects on the walls of the enclosure and proximal objects at cache sites were both present when chickadees stored sunflower seeds in artificial trees. Removal of distal objects prior to cache recovery significantly reduced search accuracy, while removal of proximal objects had no significant effect on accuracy. In a second experiment, birds stored seeds with only distal objects present. Rotation of these objects around the walls of the chamber significantly reduced search accuracy. Birds searched for stored food at sites that were correct with respect to the distal objects, rather than at the original cache sites. These results show that black-capped chickadees remember the position of caches with respect to prominent global features of the environment.