Preferred compass directions of homing pigeons in Italy

Ioalè, Paolo

doi:10.1080/11250009509356045

Cited by 24 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…In particular, over distances of more than 15 km, like those taken into consideration in this study, the initial bearings of this species are strongly influenced by directional preferences that are not correlated to the home direction (Baldaccini et al . 1986a, 1994) and are similar to those recorded in other wild species and in the homing pigeon (references in Wallraff 1979, Matthews 1984; Wallraff 1986; Ioalè 1995). Over these distances the percentage of successful birds is perceptibly lower than that recorded over shorter distances and seems to depend strongly on the direction of displacement (Baldaccini et al .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

The Influence of Repeated Releases on the Homing Behaviour of Sand Martins (Riparia riparia)

1999

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Data on the effect of repeated releases on the homing behaviour of sand martins released four times from the same site (beyond 50 km from the nesting colony) are presented. The results, obtained by two series of releases, show a progressive improvement of both the initial orientation and the homing performances. When the birds released four times from the same site were displaced in a new site, located roughly at the same distance, but in the opposite direction to the former, they do not change directional preferences with respect to the last experimental release; the homing speeds were also not different to those recorded for birds without any release experience. While the learning of orienting cues can not be excluded, the data point out that the habituation to the handling stress and a form of directional training seem to play a major role in determining the observed behaviour. The familiarity with a site does not seem to improve the homing behaviour of sand martins when released from a different one.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

The Influence of Repeated Releases on the Homing Behaviour of Sand Martins (Riparia riparia)

1999

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“…The distribution of vanishing bearings of the controls (C) were significantly orientated in all experimental releases, except the test release from Bolgheri in Series I (see the significance level of Rayleigh and V‐test in Tables 1 and 2). It is worth noting that, similarly to what has been observed in other experiments (Ioalè et al ., 2000; Gagliardo et al ., 2004), in the test from Bolgheri of Series II the C pigeons made a compromise between the home direction and the preferred compass direction, which for Arnino pigeons is SSW (Ioalè, 1995). In fact, in the release from Bolgheri of Series II the C group's vanishing distribution turned out to be significantly different from random according to the Rayleigh, but not to the V‐test, which takes into account the expected direction.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 68%

Functional asymmetry of left and right avian piriform cortex in homing pigeons' navigation

Gagliardo

Odetti

Ioalè

et al. 2005

Eur J of Neuroscience

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It has been shown that homing pigeons rely on olfactory cues to navigate over unfamiliar areas and that any kind of olfactory impairment produces a dramatic reduction of navigational performance from unfamiliar sites. The avian piriform cortex is the main projection field of olfactory bulbs and it is supposed to process olfactory information; not surprisingly bilateral lesions to this telencephalic region disrupt homing pigeon navigation. In the present study, we attempted to assess whether the left and right piriform cortex are differentially involved in the use of the olfactory navigational map. Therefore, we released from unfamiliar locations pigeons subjected, when adult, to unilateral ablation of the piriform cortex. After being released, the pigeons lesioned to the right piriform cortex orientated similarly to the intact controls. On the contrary, the left lesioned birds were significantly more scattered than controls, showing a crucial role of the left piriform cortex in processing the olfactory cues needed for determining the direction of displacement. However, both lesioned groups were significantly slower than controls in flying back to the home loft, showing that the integrity of both sides of the piriform cortex is necessary to accomplish the whole homing process.

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“…In previous experiments at this site (Benvenuti et al, 1996;Ioalè et al, 2000;Gagliardo et al, 2001), pigeons have displayed a strong tendency to fly towards the preferred compass direction (PCD), which for Arnino pigeons is south-southwest (Ioalè, 1995;Ioalè, 1996). This tendency it is usually counterbalanced by the tendency to fly towards home for the control birds, while it prevails in the birds showing an impaired homing ability.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Having the nerve to home: trigeminal magnetoreceptor versusolfactory mediation of homing in pigeons

Gagliardo

Ioalè

Savini

et al. 2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY The ability of pigeons to find their way home from unfamiliar sites located up to hundreds of kilometers away is well known, but the mechanisms underlying this ability remain controversial. One proposed mechanism is based on the suggestion that pigeons are equipped with magnetoreceptors that can enable the detection of either the earth's magnetic field and/or magnetic field anomalies in the local terrain over which the pigeons fly. Recent reports have suggested that these magnetoreceptors are located in the upper beak where they are innervated by the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve. Moreover, this nerve has been shown to mediate pigeons' ability to discriminate the presence versus the absence of a magnetic field anomaly in a conditioning situation. In the present study, however, we show that an intact ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve is neither necessary nor sufficient for good homing performance from unfamiliar locations, but that an intact olfactory nerve is necessary.

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Preferred compass directions of homing pigeons in Italy

Cited by 24 publications

References 21 publications

The Influence of Repeated Releases on the Homing Behaviour of Sand Martins (Riparia riparia)

The Influence of Repeated Releases on the Homing Behaviour of Sand Martins (Riparia riparia)

Functional asymmetry of left and right avian piriform cortex in homing pigeons' navigation

Having the nerve to home: trigeminal magnetoreceptor versusolfactory mediation of homing in pigeons

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