Chickadee II

And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! – Revelation 15:3 NASB20

Chickadees have been one of my favorite birds for as long as I can remember. My fascination with these black-capped birds just increases when I encounter them singing and darting about the trees as I hike in the wilderness. 

During the autumn months, these birds work hard storing food for winter. It has been estimated that one chickadee can cache up to 1000 pieces of food a day if abundant seeds are available. They hide their food in several places – under leaves, in pine needles, behind pieces of tree bark, etc. This is similar behavior to what I mentioned in my post about a species of bird that seems to thrive on cold weather (see Canada Jay).

Marvelous Memory Development

What is truly amazing is that the chickadee is able to remember where it stored this food when the cold months of winter arrive.

As autumn approaches, the chickadee’s brain grows some new neurons and sheds old ones. During this time, the part of the bird’s brain that involves memory – the hippocampus – grows 25-30 percent larger! When spring arrives and food becomes more readily available, this part of the brain shrinks back to its “normal” size. The hippocampus also helps the chickadee with spatial navigation as it zips around and in between tree trunks and branches.

The above Scripture speaks of the marvelous works of God. That a critter He made can increase the size of its brain to remember where it cached food when winter comes sounds pretty marvelous to me. (Wish I could have done that whilst cramming for finals at university, eh!)

If you’re not sure how you can have your own relationship with the One whose creative mind came up with the universe and all that is in it, please see Got God?

Hope you have a great day!