Several kinds of woodland animals in southeastern Pennsylvania store food in October to eat during lean times in the coming winter. Blue jays, gray squirrels and eastern chipmunks are the most obvious of those hoarders in this area, but white-breasted nuthatches, two kinds of woodpeckers, tufted titmice and American crows do so as well. All these creatures have adapted to older suburban areas with their many trees and shrubbery. All of them, except some of the crows, are permanent residents in this area; meaning they don't migrate. All of them, except the chipmunks, are active and abroad through winter when they search for the food they stored. And all those critters that are active in winter must remember where they stashed their food savings for winter. That is a critical part of the storing process that demonstrates the workings of there creatures' minds and memories.
Blue jays specialize in gathering pin oak acorns because those nuts are small enough for them to handle. They pluck the acorns from the trees and off the ground in woods and suburban areas and fly away with them in their beaks to secret places, such as cavities in trees and holes they poke in the ground with their bills. The jays' lovely, blue plumage is even more beautiful among the striking red, yellow and brown leaves of the pin oaks they fly into and out of.
Gray squirrels, which are so abundant here, are obvious when picking up most any kind of nut they find in woods and suburbs and hiding them in tree hollows and holes they dig in the soil. These squirrels store a lot of black walnuts. But they chew off the husks before burying or storing them, which saves much space in the storage places. Squirrels are about the only rodents that can handle black walnut shells and husks to get at the nutrition inside because only they have jaws strong enough and teeth sharp enough to do so.
Eastern chipmunks live in burrows in the ground on woodland floors and older suburbs with their many trees and shrubbery. In October, each chipmunk gathers a variety of nuts, seeds and berries, stuffs them into two cheek pouches and hustle that food back to their homes in the ground. They run down their tunnels to storage chambers where they unload their cheeks and zip out to get more edibles. This they do much of each day through a good part of the month. In November, they enter their sleeping room and sleep for several days at a time. But several times through the winter they wake up, eat some of their stored food and go back to sleep. What an enviable life they have in winter! But they earned that rest through the rest of the year.
White-breasted nuthatches have also adapted to wooded suburbs. They, too, store food, including seeds, corn kernels and small acorns, for the winter by pushing it into crevices in tree bark. In winter they chip out that food when they need it. Nuthatches are so adept on bark that they can easily walk down it headfirst.
Red-bellied and red-headed woodpeckers also store nuts and seeds for the winter by chipping out holes in dead wood and bark and stuffing the food into them during autumn when those foods are abundant and available. In lean times, they chisel out the food with their strong, sharp beaks.
Tufted titmice, which are chickadee relatives, but a bit larger, also store seeds and small nuts for winter use during September and October. They hide that food in tree hollows and under piles of leaves on forest floors and lawns.
American crows are hoarders, too. They stash most anything that passes for food in tree cavities and other sheltered places.
The storing of food is necessary for the survival of many kinds of wild animals through winter. That storing probably is instinctive, but the animals that develop it survive. And memories serve to develop brains into more complex organs that help wild critters' survive tough times.
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