Attempts to Determine the Roles of Visual and Olfactory Inputs in Initial Orientation and Homing of Pigeons over Familiar Terrain

Streng, Andrea; Wallraff, Hans Georg

doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1992.tb00863.x

Cited by 16 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Results shown here and previously(WALLRAFF & NEUMANN 1989;STRENG & WALLRAFF 1992;WALLRAFF et al 1993) make clear that a limited number of preceding visits of a site or area enable non-olfactory home orientation, although without reaching the level achieved with unimpaired olfaction. The results obtained by DALL'-ANTONIA & LUSCHI (1993) and us are in perfect accordance.…”

supporting

confidence: 67%

“…We feel it most likely, but it has not been proved clearly, that the non-olfactory part is contributed by the visual landscape. A direct approach, using pigeons with either vision or olfaction or both strongly impaired, led to affirmative results but not to a final decision (STRENG & WALLRAFF 1992). Owing to strong interference of visual impairment with more elementary behavioural activities, the specific use of vision for homing could not be sufficiently isolated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Similarly, if it is true that: e. Severe impairment of image vision does not prevent home orientation, this would not preclude usage of visual structures once they are available and possibly helpful for homing (e. g. if olfactory inputs are insufficient). Moreover, lacking effect of frosted contact lenses on the goodness of homeward orientation has never been demonstrated (STRENG & WALLRAFF 1992). Finally: f. The effectiveness of clock shifts at familiar sites and very short distances from home has been claimed to be a particularly strong argument against landmark orientation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Visual Familiarity with the Landscape in Pigeon Homing

Wallraff¹,

Kiepenheuer²,

Streng³

1994

Ethology

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In an introductory discussion it is argued why a topographical ‘pattern map’ based on a familiar visual landscape should come into conflict with an angular shift of the sun compass, whereas a ‘point map’ based on atmospheric odours is expected to be freely rotatable by compass shifts. To test whether these predictions are met, releases were conducted in a familiar area with pigeons whose circadian clock was shifted 6 h forward. Half of the pigeons were prevented from smelling natural airborne odours by air filtration before release and nasal anaesthesia upon release. Analysis of initial bearings, also including earlier releases in unfamiliar areas, led to the following results. (1) Unfamiliar area, olfaction unimpaired (only assumed point map applicable): full deflection of bearings according to the amount of sun‐compass shift. (2) Familiar area, olfaction unimpaired (both point map and pattern map applicable): average deflection of bearings somewhat smaller than compass shift. (3) Familiar area, no olfactory access to natural air (only assumed pattern map applicable): average deflection of bearings only about half compass shift; increased variability. Corresponding non‐shifted controls were always homeward orientated. Results support the hypothesis that pigeons in a familiar area, if relying exclusively on non‐olfactory spatial information, utilize the visible landscape to find the way home. Certainly they also do so under normal conditions when additionally available airborne odours co‐determine behaviour, so that the investigator is unable to separate the roles of vision and olfaction. This most plausible and parsimonious hypothesis should be falsified before consideration of alternative hypotheses suggesting there are some mysterious unknown factors at work. How pigeons may view and evaluate the landscape for orientation over longer distances is briefly discussed.

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supporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Visual Familiarity with the Landscape in Pigeon Homing

Wallraff¹,

Kiepenheuer²,

Streng³

1994

Ethology

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“…Some studies, however, showed that anosmic pigeons can fly as far as untreated birds, and therefore their motivation seems to be unlikely to be diminished Wallraff 1981). Moreover, in a familiar area near home, loft pigeons seemed to be slightly affected (Streng and Wallraff 1992) or unaffected by olfactory deprivation (Gagliardo et al 2001). One should stress out here that quite a few studies did not have proper control (sham treatments) for olfactory deprivation, especially the early studies in the 1980s (Wallraff 1980(Wallraff , 1981 for review) where the olfactory nerve was sectioned (cutting the olfactory nerve seems to be the most specific tool for olfactory deprivation compared to nostril plugging, shortlived anaesthesia and even zinc sulphate washing, because olfactory receptors slowly regenerate).…”

Section: Olfactory Navigationmentioning

confidence: 82%

Sensory mechanisms of long-distance navigation in birds: a recent advance in the context of previous studies

Kishkinev

2015

J Ornithol

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Displacement studies have clearly shown that experienced avian migrants are able to perform true navigation, i.e., they can find the correct direction leading to a target destination from unfamiliar sites. The sensory mechanisms of true navigation remain poorly understood, though some remarkable progress has been made in the last 10-15 years. There are two primary hypotheses explaining the sensory nature of navigation: (1) a magnetic map hypothesis proposes that birds use parameters of the geomagnetic field that are predictably distributed on the globe. As for the sensory nature of this hypothesis, it has been assumed by some researchers that the magnetic receptor cells reside in the upper beak (the so-called ''beak organ''), and transmit information via the trigeminal nerve to the brain; (2) an olfactory map hypothesis assumes that birds can smell their position by taking advantage of odours distributed in the atmosphere. There are a growing number of studies supporting both of the hypotheses mentioned though in different avian model species. In this review, an attempt is made to provide an overview of the evidence for different navigational cues proposed thus far, with the main focus on the recent studies addressing the magnetic and olfactory navigation hypotheses. Also, a list of key open questions, together with possible experimental approaches, is proposed.

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“…Surprisingly, birds deprived of object vision and rendered anosmic were still able to orient successfully from a familiar area, again suggesting that object vision is not necessary for homing, and that at least one other cue was necessary to explain homing (Benvenuti and Fiaschi, 1983). However, a subsequent study did not support this and suggested a crucial role for vision if birds were made anosmic (Streng and Wallraff 1992). Later investigations found that birds able to view the landscape prior to release showed increased homing performance, suggesting that, when available, visual access to the landscape can be important in homing (Braithwaite and Guilford, 1991;Burt et al, 1997).…”

mentioning

confidence: 89%