The hippocampus encodes episodic memories in food-caching birds. Researchers recorded hippocampal activity in black-capped chickadees during caching, revealing sparse, transient "barcode-like" firing patterns that uniquely represented caching events. These barcodes co-occurred with conventional place cell activity but were uncorrelated even for nearby cache locations. Barcodes likely represent specific episodic memories, assigning unique identifiers to events and enabling rapid memory storage. Barcodes reactivated during cache retrieval and checks, suggesting they encode specific events. Unlike place cells, which represent spatial context, barcodes represent unique events, with activity patterns that are spatially isolated and not correlated between adjacent sites. Barcodes were distinct across caching events at the same site, indicating they encode unique episodes. Place cell activity was not affected by caching, suggesting that barcodes, not place codes, represent cache memories. Barcodes reactivated during retrieval and checks, but not during visits, indicating they are tied to specific memory retrieval events. The study shows that barcodes represent specific episodic experiences, unique in time and place. The findings suggest that barcodes are a distinct form of hippocampal activity, different from place codes, and may represent a unique signature of specific events. The study also shows that barcodes are not stable representations of any variable, including location, and are different even across caches at the same site. The results suggest that barcodes are a unique signature of specific events, and that hippocampal activity is temporally coordinated with behavior. The study highlights the importance of food-caching behavior in understanding hippocampal encoding of episodic memories.The hippocampus encodes episodic memories in food-caching birds. Researchers recorded hippocampal activity in black-capped chickadees during caching, revealing sparse, transient "barcode-like" firing patterns that uniquely represented caching events. These barcodes co-occurred with conventional place cell activity but were uncorrelated even for nearby cache locations. Barcodes likely represent specific episodic memories, assigning unique identifiers to events and enabling rapid memory storage. Barcodes reactivated during cache retrieval and checks, suggesting they encode specific events. Unlike place cells, which represent spatial context, barcodes represent unique events, with activity patterns that are spatially isolated and not correlated between adjacent sites. Barcodes were distinct across caching events at the same site, indicating they encode unique episodes. Place cell activity was not affected by caching, suggesting that barcodes, not place codes, represent cache memories. Barcodes reactivated during retrieval and checks, but not during visits, indicating they are tied to specific memory retrieval events. The study shows that barcodes represent specific episodic experiences, unique in time and place. The findings suggest that barcodes are a distinct form of hippocampal activity, different from place codes, and may represent a unique signature of specific events. The study also shows that barcodes are not stable representations of any variable, including location, and are different even across caches at the same site. The results suggest that barcodes are a unique signature of specific events, and that hippocampal activity is temporally coordinated with behavior. The study highlights the importance of food-caching behavior in understanding hippocampal encoding of episodic memories.