Can't find your keys? You need chickadee brain

For the first time, researchers have shown that there is a genetic component underlying the amazing spatial memories of mountain chickadees. These energetic half-ounce birds hide thousands of food items every fall and rely on these hidden stores to get through harsh winters in the mountains of the West. To find these caches, chickadees use highly specialized spatial memory abilities. Although the genetic basis for spatial memory has been shown for humans and other mammals, direct evidence of that connection has never before been identified in birds. Their research, "The Genetic Basis of Spatial Cognitive Variation in a Food-Caching Bird," published Nov. 3 in the journal Current Biology.