dc.contributor.author |
Dennis, Todd |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Rayner, Matthew |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Walker, Michael |
en |
dc.date.accessioned |
2012-03-05T20:40:09Z |
en |
dc.date.issued |
2007 |
en |
dc.identifier.citation |
P R SOC B 274(1614):1153-1158 07 May 2007 |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2292/12915 |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
The influence of the Earth,s magnetic field on locomotory orientation has been studied in many taxa but is best understood for homing pigeons (Columba livia). Effects of experimentally induced and naturally occurring perturbations in the geomagnetic field suggest that pigeons are sensitive to changes in geomagnetic parameters. However, whether pigeons use the Earth,s magnetic field for position determination remains unknown. Here we report an apparent orientation to the intensity gradient of the geomagnetic field observed in pigeons homing from sites in and around a magnetic anomaly. From flight trajectories recorded by GPS-based tracking devices, we noted that many pigeons released at unfamiliar sites initially flew, in some cases up to several kilometres, in directions parallel and/or perpendicular to the bearing of the local intensity field. This behaviour occurred irrespective of the homeward direction and significantly more often than what was expected by random chance. Our study describes a novel behaviour which provides strong evidence that pigeons when homing detect and respond to spatial variation in the Earth,s magnetic field-information of potential use for navigation. |
en |
dc.publisher |
The Royal Society |
en |
dc.relation.ispartofseries |
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences |
en |
dc.rights |
Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.
Details obtained from http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/1471-2954/ |
en |
dc.rights.uri |
https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm |
en |
dc.title |
Evidence that pigeons orient to geomagnetic intensity during homing |
en |
dc.type |
Journal Article |
en |
dc.identifier.doi |
10.1098/rspb.2007.3768 |
en |
pubs.begin-page |
1153 |
en |
pubs.volume |
274 |
en |
dc.rights.holder |
Copyright: The Royal Society |
en |
dc.identifier.pmid |
17301015 |
en |
pubs.end-page |
1158 |
en |
dc.rights.accessrights |
http://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/RestrictedAccess |
en |
pubs.subtype |
Article |
en |
pubs.elements-id |
82538 |
en |
dc.identifier.eissn |
1471-2954 |
en |
pubs.record-created-at-source-date |
2010-09-01 |
en |
pubs.dimensions-id |
17301015 |
en |