scholarly journals Ontogeny of the star compass in birds: pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) can establish the star compass in spring

2021 ◽  
Vol 224 (3) ◽  
pp. jeb237875
Author(s):  
Anna Zolotareva ◽  
Gleb Utvenko ◽  
Nadezhda Romanova ◽  
Alexander Pakhomov ◽  
Nikita Chernetsov
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Ficedula Hypoleuca ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Autumn Migration ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Vertical Magnetic Field ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Star Compass

ABSTRACTThe star compass of birds, like the sun compass, is not innate. To possess either of them, birds have to observe the rotating sky and determine its centre of rotation (in the case of the star compass) or the sun's movement (for the sun compass). Young birds are believed to learn how to use the star compass before their first migration, even though the evidence of this is lacking. Here, we tested whether hand-raised Pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) that had not established the star compass prior to their first autumn migration can gain it later in their ontogeny, in spring. We also attempted to examine whether the observation of diurnal celestial cues (the sun and polarized light) prior to autumn migration would affect the process of star compass learning in spring. When tested in the vertical magnetic field under the natural starry sky, the group of birds that observed the stars in spring as the first celestial cues were able to choose the migratory direction. In contrast, the birds that had never seen the stars were not able to use the nightly celestial cues in the vertical magnetic field. However, birds that had seen the daytime celestial cues till autumn and the stars at spring were disoriented, although this might be due to the small sample size. Our data suggest the possibility that the star compass may be learned in spring and emphasize the necessity for further research into the interaction of celestial compasses.

The Initial Orientation of Homing Pigeons at the Magnetic Equator: Compass Mechanisms and the Effect of Applied Magnets

1991 ◽  
Vol 161 (1) ◽  
pp. 299-314
Author(s):  
RONALD RANVAUD ◽  
KLAUS SCHMIDT-KOENIG ◽  
JÖRG U. GANZHORN ◽  
JAKOB KIEPENHEUER ◽  
ODIVAL C. GASPAROTTO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Migratory Birds ◽  
Sensory System ◽  
Magnetic Equator ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Homing Pigeons ◽  
Directional Preference ◽  
Compass Mechanisms ◽  
Inclination Compass

Homing pigeons are thought to use the earth's magnetic field for direction finding. Though the sensory system and the characteristics of the magnetic field used are unknown, it can be hypothesized that pigeons have an inclination compass, as do some migratory birds. When released at the magnetic equator, this inclination compass ought to be suspended. In addition, releasing pigeons when the sun is at or very close to the zenith renders the sun compass inoperational. However, released under these conditions, homing pigeons are not disorientated. Though they vanish on average in a different direction from pigeons released when the sun compass is available, they still show a directional preference close to magnetic north. This directional preference could be disrupted in some years by the application of magnets to the pigeons' back. In other years this treatment as well as another magnetic treatment did not produce any difference between experimental pigeons and controls. These results confirm once more that, if magnetic effects exist, they are of a rather discrete nature.

scholarly journals Matched-filter coding of sky polarization results in an internal sun compass in the brain of the desert locust

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (41) ◽  
pp. 25810-25817
Author(s):  
Frederick Zittrell ◽  
Keram Pfeiffer ◽  
Uwe Homberg
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Orientation ◽  
Matched Filter ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Insect Brain ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Polarization Pattern ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Small Spot ◽  
Polarization Compass

Many animals use celestial cues for spatial orientation. These include the sun and, in insects, the polarization pattern of the sky, which depends on the position of the sun. The central complex in the insect brain plays a key role in spatial orientation. In desert locusts, the angle of polarized light in the zenith above the animal and the direction of a simulated sun are represented in a compass-like fashion in the central complex, but how both compasses fit together for a unified representation of external space remained unclear. To address this question, we analyzed the sensitivity of intracellularly recorded central-complex neurons to the angle of polarized light presented from up to 33 positions in the animal’s dorsal visual field and injected Neurobiotin tracer for cell identification. Neurons were polarization sensitive in large parts of the virtual sky that in some cells extended to the horizon in all directions. Neurons, moreover, were tuned to spatial patterns of polarization angles that matched the sky polarization pattern of particular sun positions. The horizontal components of these calculated solar positions were topographically encoded in the protocerebral bridge of the central complex covering 360° of space. This whole-sky polarization compass does not support the earlier reported polarization compass based on stimulation from a small spot above the animal but coincides well with the previously demonstrated direct sun compass based on unpolarized light stimulation. Therefore, direct sunlight and whole-sky polarization complement each other for robust head direction coding in the locust central complex.

scholarly journals Magnetic Orientation of Migratory Wheatears (Oenanthe Oenanthe) in Sweden and Greenland

1991 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROLAND SANDBERG ◽  
ULF OTTOSSON ◽  
JAN PETTERSSON
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Previous Experience ◽  
Autumn Migration ◽  
Vertical Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Orientation ◽  
Oenanthe Oenanthe ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
The Relationship

Orientation experiments were performed with wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe) subjected to artificially manipulated magnetic fields, in Sweden and Western Greenland, during the autumn migration period. The objective was to compare responses by birds exposed to widely different geomagnetic conditions and, specifically, to clarify if birds are able to use magnetic cues for orientation at high geomagnetic latitudes, as in Western Greenland. Orientation experiments were run under clear sunset skies and under simulated total overcast. Clear-sky tests did not reveal any clearcut orientation responses by wheatears in deflected and vertical magnetic fields. There was a tendency, however, for previous experience of the relationship between geomagnetic cues and visual information to affect the birds' orientation in a vertical magnetic field. Under simulated overcast, the birds closely followed a 90° shift in magnetic direction in both study areas, and both samples failed to exhibit statistically significant mean directions when tested in vertical magnetic fields. The results clearly demonstrate that wheatears possess a magnetic compass. Furthermore, the birds are able to detect and use local geomagnetic information even at high magnetic latitudes in Western Greenland, notwithstanding the steep inclination (+81°) and large declination (−46°). A persistent attraction towards magnetic northwesterly headings, under both clear and overcast skies, is not consistent with migratory directions according to ringing recoveries and warrants further investigation.

scholarly journals Hoverflies use a time-compensated sun compass to orientate during autumn migration

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1959) ◽  
pp. 20211805
Author(s):  
Richard Massy ◽  
Will L. S. Hawkes ◽  
Toby Doyle ◽  
Jolyon Troscianko ◽  
Myles H. M. Menz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Circadian Clocks ◽  
Autumn Migration ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Migratory Species ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Seasonal Movements

The sun is the most reliable celestial cue for orientation available to daytime migrants. It is widely assumed that diurnal migratory insects use a ‘time-compensated sun compass’ to adjust for the changing position of the sun throughout the day, as demonstrated in some butterfly species. The mechanisms used by other groups of diurnal insect migrants remain to be elucidated. Migratory species of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are one of the most abundant and beneficial groups of diurnal migrants, providing multiple ecosystem services and undergoing directed seasonal movements throughout much of the temperate zone. To identify the hoverfly navigational strategy, a flight simulator was used to measure orientation responses of the hoverflies Scaeva pyrastri and Scaeva selenitica to celestial cues during their autumn migration. Hoverflies oriented southwards when they could see the sun and shifted this orientation westward following a 6 h advance of their circadian clocks. Our results demonstrate the use of a time-compensated sun compass as the primary navigational mechanism, consistent with field observations that hoverfly migration occurs predominately under clear and sunny conditions.

Emergence of Twisted Magnetic Flux Related Sigmoidal Brightening

2000 ◽  
Vol 179 ◽  
pp. 263-264
Author(s):  
K. Sundara Raman ◽  
K. B. Ramesh ◽  
R. Selvendran ◽  
P. S. M. Aleem ◽  
K. M. Hiremath
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Ultra Violet ◽  
Active Regions ◽  
Morphological Properties ◽  
Energy Storage And Conversion ◽  
The Sun ◽  
X Rays ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Extended AbstractWe have examined the morphological properties of a sigmoid associated with an SXR (soft X-ray) flare. The sigmoid is cospatial with the EUV (extreme ultra violet) images and in the optical part lies along an S-shaped Hαfilament. The photoheliogram shows flux emergence within an existingδtype sunspot which has caused the rotation of the umbrae giving rise to the sigmoidal brightening.It is now widely accepted that flares derive their energy from the magnetic fields of the active regions and coronal levels are considered to be the flare sites. But still a satisfactory understanding of the flare processes has not been achieved because of the difficulties encountered to predict and estimate the probability of flare eruptions. The convection flows and vortices below the photosphere transport and concentrate magnetic field, which subsequently appear as active regions in the photosphere (Rust & Kumar 1994 and the references therein). Successive emergence of magnetic flux, twist the field, creating flare productive magnetic shear and has been studied by many authors (Sundara Ramanet al.1998 and the references therein). Hence, it is considered that the flare is powered by the energy stored in the twisted magnetic flux tubes (Kurokawa 1996 and the references therein). Rust & Kumar (1996) named the S-shaped bright coronal loops that appear in soft X-rays as ‘Sigmoids’ and concluded that this S-shaped distortion is due to the twist developed in the magnetic field lines. These transient sigmoidal features tell a great deal about unstable coronal magnetic fields, as these regions are more likely to be eruptive (Canfieldet al.1999). As the magnetic fields of the active regions are deep rooted in the Sun, the twist developed in the subphotospheric flux tube penetrates the photosphere and extends in to the corona. Thus, it is essentially favourable for the subphotospheric twist to unwind the twist and transmit it through the photosphere to the corona. Therefore, it becomes essential to make complete observational descriptions of a flare from the magnetic field changes that are taking place in different atmospheric levels of the Sun, to pin down the energy storage and conversion process that trigger the flare phenomena.

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