They hide them mostly in the bark of trees. To make this strategy work, they have highly developed memories. The hippocampus, the section of the brain responsible for memory, is larger in birds that cache seeds. Late In The Afternoon. Colo. He's guessing that the birds from Anchorage, where life is cold and harsh, will have better memories.
Chickadees appear to have a talent for finding bird feeders.
Colleen Handel, a chickadee researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Biological Science Center said she set out about 10 feeders in the Campbell Tract in October. The birds found every one within a week. Her son Kevin and his friend, Danny Watts, found the same thing when they set out feeders for a science project last winter on the Hillside. Tom Reale, who lives on the Hillside, said chickadees come in waves to a feeder on his deck, around noon usually. Reale has seen them stash the black sunflower seeds, pushing them beneath the bark of birch trees.