Spatial accuracy in food-storing and nonstoring birds

We compared the ability of coal tits, Parus ater (a food-storing species), great tits, P. major, and blue tits, P. caeruleus (two nonstoring species) to remember spatial locations in a spatial delayed-matching-to-sample task. Presentation of a single sample image on a touch screen was followed by a choice phase containing two, three or four images, in which the bird had to choose the original image. Storers made more correct choices than did nonstorers. Performance was affected by the proximity of the distractors: both groups performed less well when distractors were close to the sample although storers were less affected by proximity of distractors than were nonstorers. Both groups made correct decisions sooner than errors. We conclude that the accuracy of spatial memory in food-storing birds is greater than that of nonstorers. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.