The effect of a ?permanent? clock-shift on the orientation of experienced homing pigeons

1984 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Wiltschko ◽  
Roswitha Wiltschko ◽  
William T. Keeton
Keyword(s):  
Homing Pigeons ◽  
Clock Shift

Hippocampal lesion effects on learning strategies in homing pigeons

1996 ◽  
Vol 263 (1370) ◽  
pp. 529-534 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Hippocampal Lesion ◽  
Food Reward ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Homing Pigeons ◽  
Directional Information ◽  
Intact Control ◽  
Hippocampal Lesions ◽  
Clock Shift

Several studies have shown that birds have a directional view of space and tend to use the sun compass over landmark beacons when both are available. Intact homing pigeons can use either the sun compass or colour beacons to locate a food reward, whereas pigeons with hippocampal lesions are unable to use the sun compass, but quickly learn to use colour beacons. We trained hippocampal ablated and intact pigeons to find a reward in an outdoor octagonal arena when both sun compass information (directional cues) and intramaze landmark beacons (colour cues) were available. The intact control pigeons learned the task by preferentially relying on directional cues while effectively ignoring the colour beacons. The behaviour of the hippocampal ablated birds, based on a clock-shift manipulation and after the rotation of the colour beacons, showed that they learned to locate the food reward in the arena only on the basis of the landmark beacons, ignoring the sun compass directional information.

An analysis of clock-shift experiments: is scatter increased and deflection reduced in clock-shifted homing pigeons?

1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (16) ◽  
pp. 2269-2277 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Chappell
Keyword(s):  
Internal Clock ◽  
Magnetic Compass ◽  
Control Group ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Visual Landmarks ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Homing Pigeons ◽  
Vector Length ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Clock Shift

Clock-shifting (altering the phase of the internal clock) in homing pigeons leads to a deflection in the vanishing bearing of the clock-shifted group relative to controls. However, two unexplained phenomena are common in clock-shift experiments: the vanishing bearings of the clock-shifted group are often more scattered (with a shorter vector length) than those of the control group, and the deflection of the mean bearing of the clock-shifted group from that of the controls is often smaller than expected theoretically. Here, an analysis of 55 clock-shift experiments performed in four countries over 21 years is reported. The bearings of the clock-shifted groups were significantly more scattered than those of controls and less deflected than expected, but these effects were not significantly different at familiar and unfamiliar sites. The possible causes of the effects are discussed and evaluated with reference to this analysis and other experiments. The most likely causes appear to be conflict between the directions indicated by the sun compass and either unshifted familiar visual landmarks (at familiar sites only) or the unshifted magnetic compass (possible at both familiar and unfamiliar sites).

Effects of a “permanent” clock-shift on the orientation of young homing pigeons

1976 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Wiltschko ◽  
Roswitha Wiltschko ◽  
William T. Keeton
Keyword(s):  
Homing Pigeons ◽  
Clock Shift

scholarly journals Tracking clock-shifted homing pigeons from familiar release sites

2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Bonadona ◽  
R. Holland ◽  
L. Dall'Antonia ◽  
T. Guilford ◽  
S. Benvenuti
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Release Site ◽  
Homing Pigeon ◽  
Homing Pigeons ◽  
Pigeon Navigation ◽  
Wrong Direction ◽  
Terrain Features ◽  
Clock Shift

Clock-shifted homing pigeons were tracked from familiar sites 17.1 km and 23.5 km from the home loft in Pisa, Italy, using an on-board route recorder. At the first release site, north of home, the majority of clock-shifted birds had relatively straight tracks comparable with those of control birds. At the second release site, south of home, the clock-shifted birds deflected in the direction predicted for the degree of clock shift, with many birds travelling some distance in the wrong direction before correcting their course. The possible role of large-scale terrain features in homing pigeon navigation is discussed.

Two Direction Experiments with Homing Pigeons and Their Bearing on the Problem of Goal Orientation

1957 ◽  
Vol 91 (856) ◽  
pp. 37-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Kramer ◽  
J. G. Pratt ◽  
Ursula V. St. Paul
Keyword(s):  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Homing Pigeons

Reconstruction of the flight paths of homing pigeons by means of a flight-path recorder

1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-305
Author(s):  
P. Dall'Antonia ◽  
P. Ioalé ◽  
F. Mango ◽  
F. Papi
Keyword(s):  
Flight Path ◽  
Homing Pigeons

Initial orientation of homing pigeons at the magnetic equator with and without sun compass

1983 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Ranvaud ◽  
K. Schmidt-Koenig ◽  
J. Kiepenheuer ◽  
O. C. Gasparotto
Keyword(s):  
Initial Orientation ◽  
Magnetic Equator ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Homing Pigeons
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