In this episode, we dive into the 2024 Current Biology study “Episodic-like memory in wild free-living blue tits and great tits” by Davies, Keuneke, Clayton & Davidson.
Researchers used computerized RFID-equipped feeders (shown on page 4, Figure 1) to test whether these familiar garden birds could recall the what-where-when details of prior foraging events. The findings were remarkable: blue tits and great tits remembered what food type they encountered, where they found it, and how long ago the experience occurred (page 4–6). They also demonstrated the ability to remember incidental spatial and visual details, a hallmark of episodic-like memory, especially in juveniles (page 6, Figure 5).
We break down how these tests worked, a window bird feeder, and what the results mean for bird cognition, and why the study suggests episodic-like memory may be far more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously believed.
