Conceptual approaches to avian navigation systems

Wallraff, Hans Georg

doi:10.1007/bf01952171

Cited by 46 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…These behavioural experiments support the idea that hatchlings are able to detect and respond to very small changes in the two parameters of the Earth's magnetic field, total field intensity and angle of inclination (Lohmann and Lohmann, 1994, 1996a, 1996b. Both these gradients vary over the Earth's surface (Skiles, 1985) and can in theory be used in many areas to locate geographical sites (Wallraff, 1990 ; see also Lohmann and Lohmann 1996a).…”

Section: The Journal Of Navigationsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…The recent findings by Lohmann and Lohmann (1996 a, b), suggest that oceanic navigators such as sea turtles do indeed possess a sensory ability that can in theory be used for bi-coordinate magnetic navigation (cf. Wallraff, (1990). This possibility has resulted in the recent development of theoretical models (Phillips, 1996 andWalker, 1998) and in considerable discussion of behavioural data collected on magnetic navigation in animals (Wallraff, 1999 ; see also for example Gould, 1985 andWalcott, 1996).…”

Section: Displacement Experiments With Breeding Green Turtlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Oceanic Long-distance Navigation: Do Experienced Migrants use the Earth's Magnetic Field?

Åkesson¹,

Luschi

Papi

et al. 2001

J. Navigation

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Albatrosses and sea turtles are known to perform extremely long-distance journeys between disparate feeding areas and breeding sites located on small, isolated, oceanic islands or at specific coastal sites. These oceanic journeys, performed mainly over or through apparently featureless mediums, indicate impressive navigational abilities, and the sensory mechanisms used are still largely unknown. This research used three different approaches to investigate whether bi-coordinate navigation based on magnetic field gradients is likely to explain the navigational performance of wandering albatrosses in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans and of green turtles breeding on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. The possibility that magnetic field parameters can potentially be used in a bi-coordinate magnetic map by wandering albatrosses in their foraging area was investigated by analysing satellite telemetry data published in the literature. The possibilities for using bi-coordinate magnetic navigation varied widely between different areas of the Southern Oceans, indicating that a common mechanism, based on a bi-coordinate geomagnetic map alone, was unlikely for navigation in these areas. In the second approach, satellite telemetry was used to investigate whether Ascension Island green turtles use magnetic information for navigation during migration from their breeding island to foraging areas in Brazilian coastal waters. Disturbing magnets were applied to the heads and carapaces of the turtles, but these appeared to have little effect on their ability to navigate. The only possible effect observed was that some of the turtles with magnets attached were heading for foraging areas slightly south of the control turtles along the Brazilian coast. In the third approach, breeding female green turtles were deliberately displaced in the waters around Ascension Island to investigate which cues these turtles might use to locate and return to the island; the results suggested that cues transported by wind might be involved in the final stages of navigation.

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Section: The Journal Of Navigationsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Displacement Experiments With Breeding Green Turtlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oceanic Long-distance Navigation: Do Experienced Migrants use the Earth's Magnetic Field?

Åkesson¹,

Luschi

Papi

et al. 2001

J. Navigation

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“…The ability of homing pigeons to navigate to their loft from distant, unfamiliar sites has been a cornerstone of ethological research for more than 50 years (Wallraff, 1991(Wallraff, , 2004Papi, 2001;Wiltschko & Wiltschko, 2003). The emphasis of the ethological research has been on the sensory nature of the so-called navigational map and compass mechanisms that guide homing from distant, unfamiliar locations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hippocampal‐dependent familiar area map supports corrective re‐orientation following navigational error during pigeon homing: a GPS‐tracking study

Gagliardo

Ioalè

Savini

et al. 2009

Eur J of Neuroscience

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It is hypothesized that a central role of the vertebrate hippocampal formation (HF) in behavior is the learning and operation of a maplike representation of familiar landmarks and landscape features. One critical property of a map is that it should enable an individual to re-orient towards a goal location following a navigational error. To test this prediction on a spatial scale consistent with their naturally occurring behavior, control and HF-lesioned homing pigeons were trained from two locations and then subsequently released, while carrying portable GPS-tracking devices, following a phase-shift treatment. Analyses revealed that the HF-lesioned pigeons were less successful than control pigeons in re-orienting homewards following the phase-shift-induced error in their initial orientation. Furthermore, the observation that HF-lesioned pigeons were found to routinely ignore a land-sea landscape boundary when returning home from one of the release sites suggests that coarse landscape features may be an underappreciated source of navigational information for homing pigeons. The data demonstrate that, on a scale of tens of kilometers, homing pigeons are able to learn a hippocampal-dependent, map-like representation of familiar landmarks ⁄ landscape features that can support corrective re-orientation following a navigational error.

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“…use of a so-called navigational map, is the ¢rst step in the homing process. The navigational map olfactory hypothesis (Papi et al 1971;Papi 1991Papi , 1995Wallra¡ 1991Wallra¡ , 1996Roper 1999) proposes that homing pigeons can learn a navigational map by associating environmental odours carried by the winds with the direction from which they come. The outcome of this learning process is a map-like representation of the distribution of salient atmospheric odours in the region around the loft (Wallra¡ 2000;Wallra¡ & Andreae 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ontogeny of the homing pigeon navigational map: evidence for a sensitive learning period

GagHardo

Ioalè

Odetti

et al. 2001

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Homing pigeons can learn a navigational map by relying on the heterogeneous distribution of atmospheric odours in the environment. To test whether there might be a sensitive period for learning an olfactory-based navigational map, we maintained a group of young pigeons in an aviary screened from the winds until the age of three to four months post-£edging. Subsequently, the screens were removed and the pigeons were exposed to the winds and the environmental odours they carry for three months. One control group of pigeons was held in a similar aviary but exposed to the winds immediately upon £edging, while another control group of pigeons was allowed free-£ight. When the pigeons from the three groups were released from two distant release sites at about six months of age post-£edging, the two control groups were found to be equally good at orientating and returning home, while the experimental pigeons held in the shielded aviary for the ¢rst three months post-£edging were unable to orientate homeward and they were generally unsuccessful in returning home. This result supports the hypothesis that environmental experience during the ¢rst three months post-£edging is critical for some aspect of navigational map learning and that navigational map learning displays sensitive period-like properties.

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Conceptual approaches to avian navigation systems

Cited by 46 publications

References 72 publications

Oceanic Long-distance Navigation: Do Experienced Migrants use the Earth's Magnetic Field?

Oceanic Long-distance Navigation: Do Experienced Migrants use the Earth's Magnetic Field?

Hippocampal‐dependent familiar area map supports corrective re‐orientation following navigational error during pigeon homing: a GPS‐tracking study

The ontogeny of the homing pigeon navigational map: evidence for a sensitive learning period

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