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Here's an interesting article on humming birds, Spike Mike.

Hummingbirds have superb memories of last meals

ue Mar 7, 5:24 PM ET

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.

article continues on link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060307/sc ... 0307222448

This looks like one of your feeders...

Linnea - they certainly do have excellent memories! Every year I put petunias outside the front windows (in hanging baskets). We love watching the little hummingbirds coming in to gather nectar.

While we didn't really pay much attention to the "timing" -- one of the grandsons was here last summer and went over to the loveseat and started looking out the window at a certain time in the afternoon. Sure enough within a few minutes - there were the hummingbirds.

Was there ever any doubt they knew where the good food would be?

Exhibit A . . . .

I felt this beautiful bird thread needed a bump

SETIsLady, I'm stillwaiting for teh hummingbirds to remember thier way here. Last year, the first photo I posted of a hummer was on April 19th, so were about on schedule.

From last year:

My swallows have returned -- about a week = week+ early - but we have had such a mild winter...

At first it was just a "scout pair" and on Easter there were four pair flying around, checking out nesting areas... This morning it seems that at least two spots are being made ready to rebuild some nests.

I look for our hummingbirds to show up this week (they usually follow the swallows by week or two). There are pansies blooming in hanging baskets under front windows - so all is ready for them.

Cpt Spike Mike wrote: Was there ever any doubt they knew where the good food would be?

Exhibit A . . . .

What about HummingBORG?

This is a cool site showing the hatching of two hummingbirds (there are five pages).

Neptoon wrote:

This is a cool site showing the hatching of two hummingbirds (there are five pages).

great shots in there!

Indeed,very nice


I love Birds!! (And nature in general)