The term “bird brain” could become a compliment, with a study showing that just like birds and animals foraging for food, humans shift between memory “patches” when trying to remember details.

Researchers asked their 141 subjects to recall as many animals as they could in three minutes. The results were analysed using a categorisation scheme as well as a semantic space model, which plotted the clusters of language.

Those who were found to have memory clusters similar to that of animalistic foraging patterns – like birds jumping from bush to bush – were the most successful in testing.