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Stamps JA, Luttbeg B. Sensitive Period Diversity: Insights From Evolutionary Models. THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1086/722637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
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2
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Bonadonna F, Gagliardo A. Not only pigeons: avian olfactory navigation studied by satellite telemetry. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2021.1871967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Bonadonna
- CEFE-CNRS, University of Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, University Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France
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Identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons. Sci Rep 2020; 10:15879. [PMID: 32985543 PMCID: PMC7523013 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72525-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Many bird species have the ability to navigate home after being brought to a remote, even unfamiliar location. Environmental odours have been demonstrated to be critical to homeward navigation in over 40 years of experiments, yet the chemical identity of the odours has remained unknown. In this study, we investigate potential chemical navigational cues by measuring volatile organic compounds (VOCs): at the birds' home-loft; in selected regional forest environments; and from an aircraft at 180 m. The measurements showed clear regional, horizontal and vertical spatial gradients that can form the basis of an olfactory map for marine emissions (dimethyl sulphide, DMS), biogenic compounds (terpenoids) and anthropogenic mixed air (aromatic compounds), and temporal changes consistent with a sea-breeze system. Air masses trajectories are used to examine GPS tracks from released birds, suggesting that local DMS concentrations alter their flight directions in predictable ways. This dataset reveals multiple regional-scale real-world chemical gradients that can form the basis of an olfactory map suitable for homing pigeons.
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Fayet AL. Exploration and refinement of migratory routes in long‐lived birds. J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:16-19. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Kishkinev D, Heyers D, Woodworth BK, Mitchell GW, Hobson KA, Norris DR. Experienced migratory songbirds do not display goal-ward orientation after release following a cross-continental displacement: an automated telemetry study. Sci Rep 2016; 6:37326. [PMID: 27876843 PMCID: PMC5120330 DOI: 10.1038/srep37326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2016] [Accepted: 10/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to navigate implies that animals have the capability to compensate for geographical displacement and return to their initial goal or target. Although some species are capable of adjusting their direction after displacement, the environmental cues used to achieve this remain elusive. Two possible cues are geomagnetic parameters (magnetic map hypothesis) or atmospheric odour-forming gradients (olfactory map hypothesis). In this study, we examined both of these hypotheses by surgically deactivating either the magnetic or olfactory sensory systems in experienced white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) captured in southern Ontario, Canada, during spring migration. Treated, sham-treated, and intact birds were then displaced 2,200 km west to Saskatchewan, Canada. Tracking their initial post-displacement migration using an array of automated VHF receiving towers, we found no evidence in any of the groups for compensatory directional response towards their expected breeding grounds. Our results suggest that white-throated sparrows may fall back to a simple constant-vector orientation strategy instead of performing true navigation after they have been geographically displaced to an unfamiliar area during spring migration. Such a basic strategy may be more common than currently thought in experienced migratory birds and its occurrence could be determined by habitat preferences or range size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dmitry Kishkinev
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, N1G 2W1 Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Deiniol Road, LL57 2UW Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
| | - Dominik Heyers
- AG Neurosensorik / Animal Navigation, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University Oldenburg, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Bradley K. Woodworth
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, N1G 2W1 Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Greg W. Mitchell
- Wildlife Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, 1125 Colonel By Drive, K1H 0H3, Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Keith A. Hobson
- Wildlife Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 11 Innovation Boulevard, S7N 3H5 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, N6A 5B7, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - D. Ryan Norris
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, N1G 2W1 Guelph, Ontario, Canada
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Meskenaite V, Krackow S, Lipp HP. Age-Dependent Neurogenesis and Neuron Numbers within the Olfactory Bulb and Hippocampus of Homing Pigeons. Front Behav Neurosci 2016; 10:126. [PMID: 27445724 PMCID: PMC4916210 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Many birds are supreme long-distance navigators that develop their navigational ability in the first months after fledgling but update the memorized environmental information needed for navigation also later in life. We studied the extent of juvenile and adult neurogenesis that could provide such age-related plasticity in brain regions known to mediate different mechanisms of pigeon homing: the olfactory bulb (OB), and the triangular area of the hippocampal formation (HP tr). Newly generated neurons (visualized by doublecortin, DCX) and mature neurons were counted stereologically in 35 pigeon brains ranging from 1 to 168 months of age. At the age of 1 month, both areas showed maximal proportions of DCX positive neurons, which rapidly declined during the first year of life. In the OB, the number of DCX-positive periglomerular neurons declined further over time, but the number of mature periglomerular cells appeared unchanged. In the hippocampus, the proportion of DCX-positive neurons showed a similar decline yet to a lesser extent. Remarkably, in the triangular area of the hippocampus, the oldest birds showed nearly twice the number of neurons as compared to young adult pigeons, suggesting that adult born neurons in these regions expanded the local circuitry even in aged birds. This increase might reflect navigational experience and, possibly, expanded spatial memory. On the other hand, the decrease of juvenile neurons in the aging OB without adding new circuitry might be related to the improved attachment to the loft characterizing adult and old pigeons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia Meskenaite
- Institute of Anatomy, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland; The Interface Group, Institute of Physiology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland
| | - Sven Krackow
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Hans-Peter Lipp
- Institute of Anatomy, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland; Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Kwazulu-Natal UniversityDurban, South Africa; Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland
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Affiliation(s)
- R. A. Holland
- School of Biological Sciences; Queen's University of Belfast; Belfast UK
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8
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Abstract
Summary
Forty years ago, Papi and colleagues discovered that anosmic pigeons cannot find their way home when released at unfamiliar locations. They explained this phenomenon by developing the olfactory navigation hypothesis: pigeons at the home loft learn the odours carried by the winds in association with wind direction; once at the release site, they determine the direction of displacement on the basis of the odours perceived locally and orient homeward. In addition to the old classical experiments, new GPS tracking data and observations on the activation of the olfactory system in displaced pigeons have provided further evidence for the specific role of olfactory cues in pigeon navigation. Although it is not known which odours the birds might rely on for navigation, it has been shown that volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere are distributed as fairly stable gradients to allow environmental odour-based navigation. The investigation of the potential role of olfactory cues for navigation in wild birds is still at an early stage; however, the evidence collected so far suggests that olfactory navigation might be a widespread mechanism in avian species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Gagliardo
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via A. Volta 6, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
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Gagliardo A, Ioalè P, Filannino C, Wikelski M. Homing pigeons only navigate in air with intact environmental odours: a test of the olfactory activation hypothesis with GPS data loggers. PLoS One 2011; 6:e22385. [PMID: 21857925 PMCID: PMC3152288 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2011] [Accepted: 06/20/2011] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
A large body of evidence has shown that anosmic pigeons are impaired in their navigation. However, the role of odours in navigation is still subject to debate. While according to the olfactory navigation hypothesis homing pigeons possess a navigational map based on the distribution of environmental odours, the olfactory activation hypothesis proposes that odour perception is only needed to activate a navigational mechanism based on cues of another nature. Here we tested experimentally whether the perception of artificial odours is sufficient to allow pigeons to navigate, as expected from the olfactory activation hypothesis. We transported three groups of pigeons in air-tight containers to release sites 53 and 61 km from home in three different olfactory conditions. The Control group received natural environmental air; both the Pure Air and the Artificial Odour groups received pure air filtered through an active charcoal filter. Only the Artificial Odour group received additional puffs of artificial odours until release. We then released pigeons while recording their tracks with 1 Hz GPS data loggers. We also followed non-homing pigeons using an aerial data readout to a Cessna plane, allowing, for the first time, the tracking of non-homing homing pigeons. Within the first hour after release, the pigeons in both the Artificial Odour and the Pure Air group (receiving no environmental odours) showed impaired navigational performances at each release site. Our data provide evidence against an activation role of odours in navigation, and document that pigeons only navigate well when they perceive environmental odours.
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LaDage LD, Roth TC, Pravosudov VV. Hippocampal neurogenesis is associated with migratory behaviour in adult but not juvenile sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys ssp.). Proc Biol Sci 2010; 278:138-43. [PMID: 20659933 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.0861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been hypothesized that individuals who have higher demands for spatially based behaviours should show increases in hippocampal attributes. Some avian species have been shown to use a spatially based representation of their environment during migration. Further, differences in hippocampal attributes have been shown between migratory and non-migratory subspecies as well as between individuals with and without migratory experience (juveniles versus adults). We tested whether migratory behaviour might also be associated with increased hippocampal neurogenesis, and whether potential differences track previously reported differences in hippocampal attributes between a migratory (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii) and non-migratory subspecies (Z. l. nuttalli) of white-crowned sparrows. We found that non-migratory adults had relatively fewer numbers of immature hippocampal neurons than adult migratory birds, while adult non-migrants had a lower density of new hippocampal neurons than adult and juvenile migratory birds and juvenile non-migratory birds. Our results suggest that neurogenesis decreases with age, as juveniles, regardless of migratory status, exhibit similar and higher levels of neurogenesis than non-migratory adults. However, our results also suggest that adult migrants may either seasonally increase or maintain neurogenesis levels comparable to those found in juveniles. Our results thus suggest that migratory behaviour in adults is associated with maintained or increased neurogenesis and the differential production of new neurons may be the mechanism underpinning changes in the hippocampal architecture between adult migratory and non-migratory birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara D LaDage
- Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, , 1664 North Virginia Street, MS 314, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
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Patzke N, Manns M, Güntürkün O, Ioalè P, Gagliardo A. Navigation-induced ZENK expression in the olfactory system of pigeons (Columba livia). Eur J Neurosci 2010; 31:2062-72. [PMID: 20529114 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07240.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A large body of evidence indicates that pigeons use olfactory cues to navigate over unfamiliar areas with a differential contribution of the left and right hemispheres. In particular, the right nostril/olfactory bulb (OB) and left piriform cortex (Cpi) have been demonstrated to be crucially involved in navigation. In this study we analysed behaviour-induced activation of the olfactory system, indicated by the expression of the immediate early gene ZENK, under different homing conditions. One experimental group was released from an unfamiliar site, the second group was transported to the unfamiliar site and back to the loft, and the third group was released in front of the loft. To evaluate the differential contribution of the left and/or right olfactory input, the nostrils of the pigeons were either occluded unilaterally or not. Released pigeons revealed the highest ZENK cell density in the OB and Cpi, indicating that the olfactory system is activated during navigation from an unfamiliar site. The groups with no plug showed the highest ZENK cell density, supporting the activation of the olfactory system probably being due to sensory input. Moreover, both Cpis seem to contribute differently to the navigation process. Only occlusion of the right OB resulted in a decreased ZENK cell expression in the Cpi, whereas occlusion of the left nostril had no effect. This is the first study to reveal neuronal activation patterns in the olfactory system during homing. Our data show that lateralized processing of olfactory cues is indeed involved in navigation over unfamiliar areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Patzke
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, GAFO 05/623, 44780 Bochum, Germany.
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12
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Mehlhorn J, Rehkämper G. Neurobiology of the homing pigeon--a review. Naturwissenschaften 2009; 96:1011-25. [PMID: 19488733 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-009-0560-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2009] [Revised: 04/24/2009] [Accepted: 05/13/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Homing pigeons are well known as good homers, and the knowledge of principal parameters determining their homing behaviour and the neurological basis for this have been elucidated in the last decades. Several orientation mechanisms and parameters-sun compass, earth's magnetic field, olfactory cues, visual cues-are known to be involved in homing behaviour, whereas there are still controversial discussions about their detailed function and their importance. This paper attempts to review and summarise the present knowledge about pigeon homing by describing the known orientation mechanisms and factors, including their pros and cons. Additionally, behavioural features like motivation, experience, and track preferences are discussed. All behaviour has its origin in the brain and the neuronal basis of homing and the neuroanatomical particularities of homing pigeons are a main topic of this review. Homing pigeons have larger brains in comparison to other non-homing pigeon breeds and particularly show increased size of the hippocampus. This underlines our hypothesis that there is a relationship between hippocampus size and spatial ability. The role of the hippocampus in homing and its plasticity in response to navigational experience are discussed in support of this hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Mehlhorn
- Study Group Behaviour and Brain, C.&O. Vogt, Institute of Brain Research, University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
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13
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DeBose JL, Nevitt GA. The use of Odors at Different Spatial Scales: Comparing Birds with Fish. J Chem Ecol 2008; 34:867-81. [DOI: 10.1007/s10886-008-9493-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2008] [Revised: 04/18/2008] [Accepted: 04/28/2008] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Ioalè P, Savini M, Gagliardo A. Pigeon Homing: The Navigational Map Developed in Adulthood is Based on Olfactory Information. Ethology 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2007.01438.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Abstract
Conspecific brood parasitism, where females of the same species lay eggs in each other's nests, is common in waterfowl, and is usually considered costly to host females, which are stuck looking after eggs and chicks that are not their own. However, since female waterfowl often exhibit an unusual propensity to nest near where they were born, there has been some uncertainty over whether, in ducks and geese, laying in nests of conspecifics really is parasitism. Do parasitic and host females tend to be related? And is parasitism actually a form of cooperation in disguise? In a population in Hudson Bay, Andersson & Waldeck (this issue) found that 'parasitic' eggs in nests of the common eider, Somateria mollissima sedentaria, are more closely related to host eggs than expected by chance. In fact, host and 'donor' eggs are more closely related than are females breeding at neighbouring nests. The Hudson Bay population of common eiders is unusual, because unlike in more benign climates, females do not tend to breed near their natal nest. Spatial proximity alone cannot account for the high relatedness between host eggs and 'dumped' or donor eggs. Instead, the high relatedness values are probably the result of active recognition, where females favour kin, either when dumping or accepting eggs. These new data, along with evidence indicating that the donor lays the first egg in the nest nearly half the time, suggest that what appears to be parasitism in common eiders may be a form of kin-based cooperation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janis L Dickinson
- Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850, USA.
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17
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Gagliardo A, Ioalè P, Savini M, Lipp HP, Dell'Omo G. Finding home: the final step of the pigeons' homing process studied with a GPS data logger. J Exp Biol 2007; 210:1132-8. [PMID: 17371912 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.003244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Experiments have shown that homing pigeons are able to develop navigational abilities even if reared and kept confined in an aviary, provided that they are exposed to natural winds. These and other experiments performed on inexperienced birds have shown that previous homing experiences are not necessary to determine the direction of displacement. While the cues used in the map process for orienting at the release site have been extensively investigated, the final step of the homing process has received little attention by researchers. Although there is general agreement on the relevance of visual cues in navigation within the home area, there is a lack of clear evidence. In order to investigate the final step of the homing process, we released pigeons raised under confined conditions and others that had been allowed to fly freely around the loft and compared their flight paths recorded with a Global-Positioning-System logger. Our data show that a limited view of the home area impairs the pigeons' ability to relocate the loft at their first homing flight, suggesting that the final step of the homing process is mediated via recognition of familiar visual landmarks in the home area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Gagliardo
- Dipartimento di Biologia, University of Pisa, Via Volta 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
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18
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Gagliardo A, Ioalè P, Savini M, Wild JM. Having the nerve to home: trigeminal magnetoreceptor versus olfactory mediation of homing in pigeons. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006; 209:2888-92. [PMID: 16857872 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.02313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- A Gagliardo
- Dipartimento di Biologia, University of Pisa, Via Volta 6, Pisa, Italy
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19
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Jorge P, Vicente L. Loft features influence the processing of navigational information by pigeons. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2005. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-005-0063-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Gagliardo A, Odetti F, Ioalè P, Pecchia T, Vallortigara G. Functional asymmetry of left and right avian piriform cortex in homing pigeons' navigation. Eur J Neurosci 2005; 22:189-94. [PMID: 16029208 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.04204.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Gagliardo
- Dipartimento di Etologia, Ecologia ed Evoluzione, Università di Pisa, Via A.Volta 6, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
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Gagliardo A, Ioalè P, Odetti F, Kahn MC, Bingman VP. Hippocampal lesions do not disrupt navigational map retention in homing pigeons under conditions when map acquisition is hippocampal dependent. Behav Brain Res 2004; 153:35-42. [PMID: 15219704 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2003.10.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2003] [Revised: 10/29/2003] [Accepted: 10/29/2003] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In contrast to map-like navigation by familiar landmarks, understanding the relationship between the avian hippocampal formation (HF) and the homing pigeon navigational map has remained a challenge. With the goal of filling an empirical gap, we performed an experiment in which young homing pigeons learned a navigational map while being held in an outdoor aviary, and then half the birds were subjected to HF ablation. The question was whether HF lesion would impair retention of a navigational map learned under conditions known to require participation of HF. The pigeons, which had never flown from the aviary before, together with an additional control group that learned a navigational map with free-flight experience, were then released from two distant release sites. Contrary to expectation, the HF-lesioned birds oriented in a homeward direction in manner indistinguishable from the intact control pigeons raised in the same outdoor aviary. HF lesion did not result in a navigational map retention deficit. Together with previous results, it is now clear that regardless of the learning environment present during acquisition, HF plays no necessary role in the subsequent retention or operation of the homing pigeon navigational map.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Gagliardo
- Dipartimento di Etologia, Ecologia ed Evoluzione, Università di Pisa, Via A. Volta 6, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
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22
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23
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Development of the navigational map in homing pigeons: effects of flight experience on orientation performance. Anim Behav 2003. [DOI: 10.1006/anbe.2003.2293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Gagliardo A, Odetti F, Ioalè P. Relevance of visual cues for orientation at familiar sites by homing pigeons: an experiment in a circular arena. Proc Biol Sci 2001; 268:2065-70. [PMID: 11571054 PMCID: PMC1088849 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2001.1746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Whether pigeons use visual landmarks for orientation from familiar locations has been a subject of debate. By recording the directional choices of both anosmic and control pigeons while exiting from a circular arena we were able to assess the relevance of olfactory and visual cues for orientation from familiar sites. When the birds could see the surroundings, both anosmic and control pigeons were homeward oriented. When the view of the landscape was prevented by screens that surrounded the arena, the control pigeons exited from the arena approximately in the home direction, while the anosmic pigeons' distribution was not different from random. Our data suggest that olfactory and visual cues play a critical, but interchangeable, role for orientation at familiar sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Gagliardo
- Dipartimento di Etologia, Ecologia ed Evoluzione, Università di Pisa, Via A. Volta 6, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
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