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Hummingbirds can keep track of time!
Hummingbirds that defend territories with lots of flowers can
remember when they last visited and emptied nectar from specific
flowers. Each time a hummer empties nectar from a flower, its
internal timer is reset. And it can do this all day long!
This
is the first time that this kind of ability has been shown in
wild animals. Scientists once thought that only humans could remember
where and when things happened!
Specific
findings
- The
birds learned that refill rates differed among flowers.
They visited the 10-minute (fast) refill flowers sooner than
they visited the 20-minute (slow) refill flowers.
- The
hummers learned that the specific flower refill times were 10
and 20 minutes. They did not return to flowers before they were
refilled. They returned close to the times the blooms were refilled.
- The
hummers also seemed to remember which flowers they had recently
emptied.
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Photos:
Andrew Hurly
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