Saving Some for Later: The Fascinating World of Bird Caching

Have you noticed your chickadees and nuthatches behaving a little differently at the feeder lately?

They land, grab a seed and immediately disappear... only to return seconds later and do it all over again.

We define caching as the behaviour of storing or hiding something away for future use—and birds are known, expert cachers.

This behaviour becomes particularly noticeable as we head into fall and eventually harsher winter conditions, when natural food can become harder to find. Some birds can store hundreds (yes, hundreds) of seeds or nuts in a single day!

So when you see repeat visitors to your feeders, they're not necessarily eating all of that food. There's a good chance they're storing some of it somewhere for later.

Even more amazingly, they can remember where they've put it... for the most part anyway. 

Red-breasted nuthatch looking to cache a seed. Photo by Heather Kerrison. 

Chickadees: One Seed at a Time

Black-capped chickadee with a seed. Photo by Leanne LeBlanc. 

If you've ever watched a Black-capped Chickadee at your feeder, you know the routine.

Land. Grab one seed. Fly away. Repeat.

Chickadees typically cache one item at a time, hiding seeds under tree bark or in tiny crevices in branches. You may even catch them hiding food underneath your shingles!

Instead of creating one big food pantry, they scatter their treasures across many different locations, usually relatively close to where they found the food.

Their ability to keep track of all those hiding places is pretty incredible. Research has even found seasonal changes in the part of the chickadee brain associated with spatial memory, helping them manage the enormous task of relocating stored food.

A lot of work for such a tiny bird!

Nuthatches Are Busy, Too

Seed cached in bark. Photo by Kristen Martyn. 

White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches are also expert cachers.

Like chickadees, they'll often take one seed at a time from your feeder and tuck it beneath tree bark or into another little crevice for later.

If your nuthatches seem to be making endless trips back and forth from the feeder this fall, pay attention to where they go next. You may actually catch them building their winter pantry right in front of you.

And yes, they're another species you might catch stuffing food into some rather creative places around your home!

Blue Jays Take Caching to Another Level

Blue Jays aren't exactly known for doing things subtly. 💙

They have specialized adaptations that allow them to carry multiple pieces of food at once. Blue Jays can carry food in their throat and upper esophagus, often referred to as a gular pouch, while carrying even more in their mouth and bill.

A particularly ambitious Blue Jay can carry the equivalent of up to five acorns at once!

And they'll put that carrying capacity to good use. Studies have observed individual Blue Jays caching thousands of acorns over the course of a single fall, sometimes travelling considerable distances to hide their treasures.

All that caching has an unexpected benefit, too: they don't retrieve every acorn.

Some of those forgotten treasures eventually germinate, meaning Blue Jays play an important role in spreading oak trees. Your neighbourhood Blue Jay may be stocking its pantry and planting future forests at the same time.

It's Not Just Our Feeder Birds

Caching is widespread throughout the animal world.

Even birds of prey do it! Owls may store excess prey when they've caught more than they can eat at once, saving the rest for another meal.

And you certainly don't have to look far beyond your feeders to see the behaviour. Red Squirrels, Eastern Grey Squirrels and Eastern Chipmunks are all busy storing food this time of year, too.

Those chipmunk cheeks bursting at the seams? Basically reusable grocery bags. 🐿️

Red squirrel cone cache. Photo by Kristen Martyn. 

Watch What Happens After the Feeder

This fall, take a closer look at the birds and other animals visiting your yard.

Instead of only watching who comes to your feeder, watch what they do with the food once they get it.

Are they taking one seed and flying somewhere close by?

Are they loading up with multiple pieces before travelling farther away?

Do they seem to inspect several seeds before finally choosing one?

You may start noticing an entire behaviour happening around your feeders that you've never paid attention to before.

As the seasons change, our backyard birds are already busy preparing for what's ahead—one carefully hidden seed at a time.

As always, happy watching! 🐦

Warmly,

Heather