| Do release-site biases reflect response to the Earth's magnetic field during position determination by homing pigeons? | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 19556255 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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How homing pigeons (Columba livia) return to their loft from distant, unfamiliar sites has long been a mystery. At many release sites, untreated birds consistently vanish from view in a direction different from the home direction, a phenomenon called the release-site bias. These deviations in flight direction have been implicated in the position determination (or map) step of navigation because they may reflect local distortions in information about location that the birds obtain from the geophysical environment at the release site. Here, we performed a post hoc analysis of the relationship between vanishing bearings and local variations in magnetic intensity using previously published datasets for pigeons homing to lofts in Germany. Vanishing bearings of both experienced and naïve birds were strongly associated with magnetic intensity variations at release sites, with 90 per cent of bearings lying within +/-29 degrees of the magnetic intensity slope or contour direction. Our results (i) demonstrate that pigeons respond in an orderly manner to the local structure of the magnetic field at release sites, (ii) provide a mechanism for the occurrence of release-site biases and (iii) suggest that pigeons may derive spatial information from the magnetic field at the release site that could be used to estimate their current position relative to their loft. |
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Authors:
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Cordula V Mora; Michael M Walker |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2009-06-25 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Volume: 276 ISSN: 0962-8452 ISO Abbreviation: Proc. Biol. Sci. Publication Date: 2009 Sep |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2009-08-11 Completed Date: 2009-10-22 Revised Date: 2010-09-24 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 101245157 Medline TA: Proc Biol Sci Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 3295-302 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand. cordula.mora@gmail.com |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Columbidae / physiology* Earth (Planet)* Geography* Homing Behavior* Magnetics* Models, Theoretical |
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