Spatial memory in rufous hummingbirds: memory for rewarded and non-rewarded sites

• Published in: Animal behaviour Vol. 51; no. 1; pp. 177 - 183
• Main Author: HURLY, ANDREW T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kent Elsevier Ltd 1996; Elsevier; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Ltd
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animal cognition; Animal ethology; Animal memory; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Birds; Field study; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Selasphorus rufus; Vertebrata; Canada; Alberta; North America; America; Learning; Vertebrata; Feeding behavior; Acquisition process; Spatial distribution; Aves; Foraging behavior; Food supply; Nectarivorous; Field study; Spatial memory

The foraging ecology of rufous hummingbirds, Selasphorus rufus, suggests that this species may have good spatial memory capabilities. Six adult male hummingbirds were tested in a one-trial learning experiment in the field. Subjects searched for a single sucrose reward among four identical artificial...