Experienced migratory songbirds do not display goal-ward orientation after release following a cross-continental displacement: an automated telemetry study.

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 the

SUBMITTER: Kishkinev D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5120330 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature