The effects of cache loss on choice of cache sites in black-capped chickadees

Food-storing birds lose a great deal of their stored food to other animals. We examined whether blackcapped chickadees (Parus airicapillus) modify their choice of cache sites using information that predicts cache loss. In experiment 1, birds learned to avoid caching at spatial locations where cache loss had previously occurred, but they did not avoid caching near local color cues that predicted cache loss. Birds did not modify their general use of space in the aviary. Birds also learned to reduce searching for caches where spatial location predicted cache loss. Experiment 2 confirmed the birds’ ability to discriminate among the spatial locations and the local color cues used in experiment 1. In experiment 3, learning a food-rewarded approach to potential cache sites occurred without any change in the choice of sites for caching. We discuss how chickadees selectively associate the choice of cache site with its consequences, even over delays of several hours between caching and cache recovery.