Observational spatial memory in Clark's nutcrackers and Mexican jays
Article Abstract:
Clark's nutcrackers and Mexican jays were subjected to a test to evaluate their observational spatial memory. The nutcrackers and jays were given tasks to locate and relocate food caches. The nutcrackers performed poorly in relocating caches while the jays showed greater accuracy and capability in relocating caches. The results suggest that all corvids possess a high degree of observational spatial memory but that some species such as the highly-social Mexican jays are able to develop the trait through group living.
Publication Name: Animal Behaviour
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0003-3472
Year: 1996
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Clark's nutcracker spatial memory: many errors might not be due to forgetting
Article Abstract:
Studies show that nutcrackers use spatial memory to recover caches of seeds, crucial for survival and breeding during the winter. Tests of nutcrackers show their spatial memory accuracy is reduced under laboratory conditions. A study of Clark's nutcrackers designed to analyse whether probing behaviour is connected to recovery accuracy is presented. It is concluded that previous studies underestimate the nutcrackers' spatial memory ability and that some errors may be a type of environmental sampling.
Publication Name: Animal Behaviour
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0003-3472
Year: 1997
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Patterns of movement and orientation during caching and recovery by Clark's nutcrackers, Nucifraga columbiana
Article Abstract:
It is very unlikely that there is a significant relationship between directional consistency and the accuracy of cache recovery in Clark's nutcrackers, Nucifraga columbiana. This finding has substantial implications for understanding the cognitive processes on which accurate cache recovery is based in this species. These nutcrackers probably do not use any simple 'snapshot matching' of landmarks to find caches. It appears that they have an internal representation of the caching area.
Publication Name: Animal Behaviour
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0003-3472
Year: 1999
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