Spatial navigation in hummingbirds
To test spatial memory, David Pritchard taught hummingbirds to feed from an artificial flower positioned between two landmarks. He then removed the flower and watched to see where each hummingbird searched for it, recording how close the bird stop to where the flower had been positioned using two video cameras 90 degrees apart so the flight path could be recreated and analysed using specialist software.
These experiments will provide some insight into how hummingbirds use landmarks to remember the locations of flowers they have visited.