Spatial Memory in Pigeons (Columba livia) in an Open-Field Feeding Environment

Pigeons, unlike rats, do not display very accurate spatial working memory when tested in the traditional radial arm maze apparatus unless they are given special and extended training (cf. Roberts & Van Veldhuizen, 1985). One possible reason for their apparent "unpreparedness" to display spatial memory abilities in radial arm mazes is that, in the wild, pigeons tend to feed in open-field environments. In these experiments, pigeons' spatial working memory abilities were tested in two multiple-goal open-field test environments. The first involved an open room with eight elevated food sites which the pigeons could fly to and eat from; the second involved an open room with ground-feeding sites, arranged in a circle or in rows, which the pigeons could walk to and eat from. Unlike the radial arm maze, these environments allowed the pigeon to choose its own path between food sites. Within only a few trials, pigeons displayed evidence of reasonably accurate spatial working memory in the flight apparatus and showed very high levels of accuracy in the ground-feeding apparatus. Thus, pigeons can display accurate spatial memory, but their "preparedness" to do so may be facilitated by the use of test environments that resemble the natural feeding habitats of the species. It is suggested that the ground-feeding apparatus developed here offers some unique advantages for studying the organization of spatial memory in pigeons.