Pigeon Homing: The Effect of Local Experience on Initial Orientation and Homing Success

Grüter, M.; Wiltschko, Roswitha

doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1990.tb00800.x

Cited by 28 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Whereas the results reported here support the hypothesis that visual pilotage contributes to the homing of pigeons, it has been argued that other results stand Visual and Olfacrory Inputs in Pigeon Homing 217 against it (KEETON 1974(KEETON , 1980SCHMIDT-KOENIG 1979FULLER et al 1983;GRUTER & WILTSCHKO 1990;SCHMIDT-KOENIG & GANZHORN 1991 ;WILTSCHKO 1991). SCHMIDT-KOENIG (1979, p. 150) plainly states that "visual landmarks are not used by pigeons during homing flights, except in the vicinity of the loft".…”

Section: Use Of Familiar Visual Landmarks?contrasting

confidence: 47%

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

Streng¹,

Wallraff²

1992

Ethology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1992: Attempts to determine the roles of visual and olfactory inputs in initial orientation and homing of pigeons over familiar terrain. Ethology 91, 203-219. AbstractThe role of familiar visual landmarks in pigeon homing is still unsettled. If they are involved, they must be thought to be utilized in parallel with olfactory signals. In order to recognize the effectiveness of either one of the input channels separately, vision and olfaction, it is therefore necessary to interfere with both of them.Pigeons were temporarily deprived of image vision by spectacles made of translucent white paper, producing a condition called V-as compared with the largely unimpaired condition Vf. Access to olfactory signals was temporarily prohibited by charcoal filters before release and nasal anaesthesia upon release, resulting in condition 0versus unimpaired smelling of natural air in O+. Prior to the test releases, all the participating pigeons had been made familiar with the two or four test sites (and with other sites in the area) by training flights.According to decreasing levels of initial homeward orientation and homing performance, the four combinations of treatments are to be arranged in the following order: V'O', V+O-, V-O+, V-O-. In the last type, no trace of initial homeward orientation remained, indicating that at least one of the two input channels need be functional to enable home-related orientation. Over well known terrain, either alone seems to be more or less sufficient.The results are indicative but not definitely conclusive. Effects of visual impairment on behavioural activities in general cannot clearly be separated from orientation-specific effects. Therefore, and because many pigeons refuse to fly in V-condition or fail to provide useful data, we stopped applying this method.

show abstract

Section: Use Of Familiar Visual Landmarks?contrasting

confidence: 47%

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

Streng¹,

Wallraff²

1992

Ethology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even for an area within a 15km radius around the loft, the map proved not yet complete in the second year of lifenew factors and/or better interpretations of factors already included were still being added, as indicated by the mostly higher short-term correlation dimension of the older pigeons. Old, experienced pigeons are still able to learn the navigational factors and update their ideas on the distribution of the 'map' factors in distant regions later in life (Grüter and Wiltschko, 1990). Improvements to the navigational 'map' appear to continue as long as the pigeons live.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of the navigational system in homing pigeons: increase in complexity of the navigational map

Schiffner

Wiltschko

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARYIn the present study we analysed GPS-recorded tracks from pigeons of different ages from 11 sites between 3.6 and 22.1km from the home loft, which revealed changes in the navigational system as the birds grew older and became more experienced. The efficiency of juveniles in their first year of life, at only 0.27, was rather low, indicating that the young birds covered more than three times the direct distance home. In the second year, after a standard training programme, the efficiency of the same birds increased to 0.80 and was no longer different from that of older pigeons. The short-term correlation dimension, a variable that reflects the number of factors involved in the navigational process, also increased with age. In juveniles, it was markedly lower than in the other two groups, but even in yearlings it was still significantly lower than that of old pigeons, indicating that the navigational map of yearlings is still developing. Our results indicate that the map system, although functional in the first year of life, continues to become more complex -older pigeons seem to either consider more navigational factors than younger ones or at least weigh the same factors differently. Supplementary material available online at

show abstract

“…With increasing experience, the ‘map’ system will get more and more accurate. Although there is evidence that the maps continue to be improved and updated later in life (see Grüter and Wiltschko, 1990), we can safely assume that the early experiences lay the foundation of the ‘maps’ and form the basic rules for the future interpretation of navigational factors. In view of this, the behaviour of young pigeons while they gather the necessary information for establishing their ‘map’ system becomes of special interest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Although there is evidence that the maps continue to be improved and updated later in life (see Gru¨ter and Wiltschko, 1990), we can safely assume that the early experiences lay the foundation of the 'maps ' and form the basic rules for the future interpretation of navigational factors. Young pigeons begin to acquire the respective knowledge during the first months of their life in order to be soon in command of a functioning navigational system: they memorise the distribution of prominent landmarks and familiarise themselves with the course of suitable gradients in their home region.…”

Section: Introduction Pigeon Navigation Like Bird Navigamentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies of Young Pigeons during ‘Map’ Learning

et al. 2011

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The routes of young, inexperienced pigeons released at four sites up to 13 . 5 km from the loft were recorded with GPS-based tracking devices. The routes were found to differ from those of old, experienced pigeons in several aspects : (1) Although being oriented when departing, young birds show more scatter and larger deviations from the home direction, but usually restrict their flights to a semicircle. (2) They apparently ignore prominent landmarks near the loft that are clearly visible. (3) Their tracks are typically more complex, consisting of a number of distinctive phases where the young birds head in different directions, which results in significantly longer routes, often exceeding the direct home distances more than four times. (4) At the same time, young birds seldom venture further away from the release site than the direct distance to home. Their behaviour can be interpreted as exploration to obtain new information on the distribution of navigational factors to be included in their still rudimentary navigational 'map '. At the same time, their flights seem to include elements of safety, like anchoring the flights around the release site and a sense of distance, which help to reduce the chance of getting lost.

show abstract

Pigeon Homing: The Effect of Local Experience on Initial Orientation and Homing Success

Abstract: A series of experiments was conducted to study how local experience and

Cited by 28 publications

References 22 publications

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

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

Development of the navigational system in homing pigeons: increase in complexity of the navigational map

Strategies of Young Pigeons during ‘Map’ Learning

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About