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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/15955
Title: | Orientation of Birds in Total Darkness | Contributor(s): | Stapput, Katrin (author); Thalau, Peter (author); Wiltschko, Roswitha (author); Wiltschko, Wolfgang (author) | Publication Date: | 2008 | DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2008.03.046 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/15955 | Abstract: | Magnetic compass orientation of migratory birds is known to be light dependent [1-4], and radical-pair processes have been identified as the underlying mechanism [5, 6]. Here we report for the first time results of tests with European robins, 'Erithacus rubecula', in total darkness and, as a control, under 565 nm green light. Under green light, the robins oriented in their normal migratory direction, with southerly headings in autumn and northerly headings in spring. By contrast, in darkness they significantly preferred westerly directions in spring as well as autumn. This failure to show the normal seasonal change characterizes the orientation in total darkness as a "fixed direction" response. Tests in magnetic fields with the vertical or the horizontal component inverted showed that the preferred direction depended on the magnetic field but did not involve the avian inclination compass. A high-frequency field of 1.315 MHz did not affect the behavior, whereas local anesthesia of the upper beak resulted in disorientation. The behavior in darkness is thus fundamentally different from normal compass orientation and relies on another source of magnetic information: It does not involve the radical-pair mechanism but rather originates in the iron-containing receptors in the upper beak. | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Source of Publication: | Current Biology, 18(8), p. 602-606 | Publisher: | Cell Press | Place of Publication: | United States of America | ISSN: | 1879-0445 0960-9822 |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 060801 Animal Behaviour | Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences | Peer Reviewed: | Yes | HERDC Category Description: | C5 Other Refereed Contribution to a Scholarly Journal |
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Appears in Collections: | Journal Article |
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