Olfactory navigation versus olfactory activation: a controversy revisited

Walcott, Charles D.; Wiltschko, Wolfgang; Wiltschko, Roswitha; Zupanc, Günther K.H.

doi:10.1007/s00359-018-1273-1

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…As briefly mentioned above, the use by homing pigeons of a familiar visual landmark-based map for navigation was questioned by some authors. Importantly, whether or not unimpaired homing performances of anosmic pigeons from familiar sites are due to the use of familiar visual cues has important implication for the debate on olfactory navigation (Wiltschko 1996;Walcott et al 2018). The ability of anosmic pigeons to extract navigational information from a familiar landscape speaks against a nonspecific effect of anosmia treatment.…”

Section: Contribution Of Gps-tracking Data To Debated Questions On Olfactory Navigation In Homing Pigeonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ability of anosmic pigeons to extract navigational information from a familiar landscape speaks against a nonspecific effect of anosmia treatment. Perhaps more importantly, the impaired and unimpaired homing abilities of anosmic pigeons released at unfamiliar and familiar locations, respectively, suggest that the multi-cue navigational system proposed to explain pigeon navigation (Walcott 1996;Walcott et al 2018) is exclusively composed of olfactory and familiar visual landmarks (Gagliardo 2013).…”

Section: Contribution Of Gps-tracking Data To Debated Questions On Olfactory Navigation In Homing Pigeonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Not only pigeons: avian olfactory navigation studied by satellite telemetry

Bonadonna

Gagliardo

2021

Ethology Ecology & Evolution

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The olfactory navigation hypothesis proposed to explain homing pigeon navigation predicts that birds learn the association of wind directions and wind-borne odours at home, and once displaced, determine the home direction on the basis of local environmental odours at the release site. This hypothesis was proposed on the basis of two kinds of empirical observations: (i) pigeons develop navigational abilities only if exposed to winds at the home loft, (ii) anosmic pigeons displaced to unfamiliar sites are unable to home. Soon after the discovery of the role of olfaction in pigeon navigation about 50 years ago, olfactory navigation became a subject of hot scientific debate. Until the beginning of the GPS era, the large body of evidence in support of olfactory navigation in pigeons, swifts and starlings consisted mainly of vanishing bearings and homing performance data. The use of GPS, allowing the observation of the pigeons' behaviour en route provided further compelling evidence of the role of olfactory cues in pigeon navigation. The development of wildlife telemetry in the past two decades produced strong evidence about the use of olfactory cues, also in navigation of some species of wild birds. Wild birds artificially displaced both during

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Section: Contribution Of Gps-tracking Data To Debated Questions On Olfactory Navigation In Homing Pigeonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contribution Of Gps-tracking Data To Debated Questions On Olfactory Navigation In Homing Pigeonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not only pigeons: avian olfactory navigation studied by satellite telemetry

Bonadonna

Gagliardo

2021

Ethology Ecology & Evolution

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“…There is also evidence that disrupting olfaction in birds impairs navigation performance. Whether these fi ndings provide compelling evidence for olfactory navigation is the subject of ongoing debate [14].…”

Section: Navigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal migration research takes wing

Lohmann

2018

Current Biology

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In the beginning there was great confusion about animal migration. Aristotle, noting that the types of birds around him changed with the seasons, concluded that summer redstarts turned into robins at the onset of winter, and that garden warblers became blackcaps [1]. Others thought that birds disappear in winter because they hibernate submerged in mud. In a case of art decidedly not imitating life, a 16th century illustration accompanying the writings of Swedish Archbishop Olaus Magnus showed a fishing net filled with hibernating swallows being pulled from a lake [1]. Gradually, over centuries, these fanciful early explanations gave way to an understanding that migration is a widespread phenomenon and that Earth is alive with itinerant animals traversing continents, seas, and skies (Figure 1).

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“…Indeed, in a recent paper looking at thalamic activation under different homing treatments, Jorge et al (2017), while still claiming an activational contribution from olfaction, also identify a direct role of olfaction in determining map-based position. Given, in my opinion, the overall untenable premise of the 'activational hypothesis', I continue to be amazed that it is arguably now the most debated issue regarding the sensory basis of the homing pigeon navigational map (see Walcott et al, 2018;Gagliardo et al, 2018).…”

Section: What Is Left To Understand?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Requiem for a heavyweight – can anything more be learned from homing pigeons about the sensory and spatial-representational basis of avian navigation?

Bingman

2018

Journal of Experimental Biology

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The homing pigeon (Columba livia) has long served as a study species to exhaustively investigate the sensory and spatial (map)representational mechanisms that guide avian navigation. However, several factors have contributed to recent questioning of whether homing pigeons are as valuable as they once were as a general model for the study of the sensory and map-like, spatial-representational mechanisms of avian navigation. These reservations include: the success of this research program in unveiling navigational mechanisms; the burgeoning of new tracking technologies making navigational experiments on long-distance migratory and other wild birds much more accessible; the almost complete loss of the historically dominant, large-scale pigeon loft/research facilities; and prohibitive university per diem costs as well as animal care and use restrictions. Nevertheless, I propose here that there remain good prospects for homing pigeon research that could still profoundly influence how one understands aspects of avian navigation beyond sensory mechanisms and spatial-representational strategies. Indeed, research into neural mechanisms and brain organization, social/personality influences and genetics of navigation all offer opportunities to take advantage of the rich spatial behavior repertoire and experimental convenience of homing pigeons. Importantly, research in these areas would not necessarily require the large number of birds typically used in the past to study the sensory guidance of navigation. For those of us who have had the opportunity to work with this remarkable animal, one research door may be closing, but a window into exciting future opportunities lies ajar.

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Olfactory navigation versus olfactory activation: a controversy revisited

Cited by 12 publications

References 25 publications

Not only pigeons: avian olfactory navigation studied by satellite telemetry

Not only pigeons: avian olfactory navigation studied by satellite telemetry

Animal migration research takes wing

Requiem for a heavyweight – can anything more be learned from homing pigeons about the sensory and spatial-representational basis of avian navigation?

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