Untersuchungen über die Bedeutung optischer Parameter für das Heimkehrverhalten der Brieftaube

Schlichte, H. J.

doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1973.tb01105.x

Cited by 28 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(3 reference statements)

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“…The continuously high values near home, which have also been observed in another study (Schiffner et al, 2011a) suggest that the environmental gradients are still involved in the vicinity of the loft. This interpretation is in agreement with earlier observations (Schlichte, 1973) that pigeons deprived of object vision managed to approach the Frankfurt loft very closely. The tracks of pigeons very familiar with the area between the release site and the loft (Wiltschko et al, 2007;Schiffner et al, 2011a) showed that these birds chose slightly different routes from day to day, which argues against merely following familiar landmarks, as proposed for pigeons studied in the Oxford region (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

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

Schiffner

Wiltschko

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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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

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

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

Schiffner

Wiltschko

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…O u r paper spectacles certainly caused a stronger impairment of vision than the contact lenses used by SCHMIDT-KOENIG & SCHLICHTE and SCHMIDT-KOENIG & WALCOTT. If not forced to fly, our pigeons were completely inactivated and thus would never have tried to find the loft entrance or the sleeping place in the loft, as has been done successfully by some of the pigeons wearing frosted lenses (SCHLICHTE 1973). Looking through the kind of paper used in our experiments it is impossible, at least for a human, to localize a pole 5 cm in diameter less than 50 cm away, but pigeons with frosted lenses could perceive such a pole over a distance of 2 m. Directional responses to landscape features over 1 km distance in stationary training experiments were markedly impaired by frosted lenses, but apparently not to a level of zero (response mean deviates 4" from training direction, vector length 0.24; p < 0.05, V test; SCHLICHTE 1973, Fig.…”

Section: Comparison With Earlier Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Streng¹,

Wallraff²

1992

Ethology

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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.

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Orientation of homing pigeons: Direct sight of sun not necessary

McDonald

1975

J. Exp. Zool.

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Homing pigeons do not need to see the sun directly in order to orient in a Kramer-type cage. Five homing pigeons were directionally trained in the traditional manner with a clear view of the sky and sun overhead. They were then tested while wearing a sun shade which prevented them from seeing any of the sky out of the top of the cage. All of the birds were able to maintain their Orientation. Shadows on the floor of the apparatus may have provided cues. These results suggest a mechanism pigeons may use to obtain information from the sun, that is, by looking at shadows on the ground. Experiments of a similar nature with freeflying birds are needed.

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Untersuchungen über die Bedeutung optischer Parameter für das Heimkehrverhalten der Brieftaube

Cited by 28 publications

References 31 publications

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

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

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

Orientation of homing pigeons: Direct sight of sun not necessary

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