Title: Why hummingbirds remember everything
Post by: Donna on 23-Feb-12, 07:56:32 AM
London - They may be tiny, but hummingbirds have a huge memory, researchers have found.
Their hippocampus – the area of the brain responsible for learning and memory – is up to five times bigger than that in songbirds, seabirds and woodpeckers.
This might explain why hummingbirds are such skilled foragers.
The birds can remember where every flower in their territory is and how long it takes to refill with nectar after they have fed.
A team led by Dr Andrew Iwaniuk, of the University of Lethbridge in Canada, dissected hummingbird brains and found their hippocampus showed an “exceptional” memory.
Their study is published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. - Daily Mail
Their hippocampus – the area of the brain responsible for learning and memory – is up to five times bigger than that in songbirds, seabirds and woodpeckers.
This might explain why hummingbirds are such skilled foragers.
The birds can remember where every flower in their territory is and how long it takes to refill with nectar after they have fed.
A team led by Dr Andrew Iwaniuk, of the University of Lethbridge in Canada, dissected hummingbird brains and found their hippocampus showed an “exceptional” memory.
Their study is published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. - Daily Mail
Title: Re: Why hummingbirds remember everything
Post by: Bobbie Ireland on 23-Feb-12, 08:09:53 AM
I am thinking of getting the brain of a hummingbird... might mean I do not to keep praying to St Anthony and paying him if he finds things... which (quite spookily!) he always does...
Title: Re: Why hummingbirds remember everything
Post by: Bobbie Ireland on 23-Feb-12, 08:12:22 AM
"... I do not need to keep praying..."
Title: Re: Why hummingbirds remember everything
Post by: Donna on 23-Feb-12, 08:16:00 AM
I am thinking of getting the brain of a hummingbird... might mean I do not to keep praying to St Anthony and paying him if he finds things... which (quite spookily!) he always does...
Funny, I read that with need in it! How the mind works! :wave:
Title: Re: Why hummingbirds remember everything
Post by: Bobbie Ireland on 23-Feb-12, 08:22:04 AM
I am thinking of getting the brain of a hummingbird... might mean I do not to keep praying to St Anthony and paying him if he finds things... which (quite spookily!) he always does...
Funny, I read that with need in it! How the mind works! :wave:
So your mind is already the size of a hummingbird's, huh, D-G?!
Title: Re: Why hummingbirds remember everything
Post by: Donna on 23-Feb-12, 08:28:23 AM
I am thinking of getting the brain of a hummingbird... might mean I do not to keep praying to St Anthony and paying him if he finds things... which (quite spookily!) he always does...
Funny, I read that with need in it! How the mind works! :wave:
So your mind is already the size of a hummingbird's, huh, D-G?!
We won't go there! :devil:
Title: Re: Why hummingbirds remember everything
Post by: MAK on 23-Feb-12, 03:53:21 PM
:birdhum: So much memory in so little space! I should be so lucky!!! :laugh: :hummer:
Title: Re: Why hummingbirds remember everything
Post by: annieinelkhart on 23-Feb-12, 05:23:50 PM
AND for YEARS I always thought larger was better!! :silly: Sure explains why they know where my feeders are!! :notworthy: