Orientation by pigeons deprived of olfaction by nasal tubes

Summary In an effort to avoid the trauma and other nonolfactory effects produced by surgical sectioning of pigeons' olfactory nerves, and to avoid the interference with breathing produced by nostril plugs, a way of making pigeons anosmic by inserting plastic tubes in their nostrils was developed. A total of 16 experimental releases were conducted from unfamiliar sites to compare the homing behavior of birds wearing a tube in each nostril with controls wearing a tube in only one nostril. In five short-distance releases (less than 25 km), no convincing differences in initial orientation, vanishing intervals, or homing success were observed. In eleven releases from longer distances (more than 76 km), the experimental birds were random in three cases and the controls were random in two. In no case were the differences in the distributions of the bearings of experimental and control birds statistically significant, nor were there ever significant differences in vanishing intervals. However, experimental birds had much poorer homing success from these long-distance releases. It is concluded, in view of the anosmic pigeons' good orientation at distant unfamiliar sites, that olfaction is not necessary for homeward orientation and hence that it cannot be the basis of the birds' navigational map. Poor homing success from long distances is probably a consequence of the physical irritation and interference with breathing unfortunately produced by the nasal tubes..

Medienart:

Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

1977

Erschienen:

1977

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:114

Enthalten in:

Journal of comparative physiology / A - 114(1977), 3 vom: Jan., Seite 289-299

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Keeton, William T. [VerfasserIn]
Kreithen, Melvin L. [VerfasserIn]
Hermayer, Kathie L. [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext [lizenzpflichtig]

Themen:

Control Bird
Experimental Release
Initial Orientation
Olfactory Nerve
Plastic Tube

Anmerkungen:

© Springer-Verlag 1977

doi:

10.1007/BF00657324

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

OLC2045034054