Magnetoreception in birds: no intensity window in “fixed direction” responses

Under 502 nm turquoise light combined with 590 nm yellow light and in total darkness, European robins, Erithacus rubecula, no longer prefer their migratory direction, but exhibit so-called fixed direction responses that do not show the seasonal change between spring and autumn. We tested robins under these light conditions in the local geomagnetic field of 46 μT, a field of twice this intensity, 92 μT, and a field of three times this intensity, 138 μT. Under all three magnetic conditions, the birds preferred the same easterly direction under turquoise-and-yellow light and the same northwesterly direction under dark, while they were oriented in their seasonally appropriate direction under control conditions. “Fixed direction” responses are thus not limited to a narrow intensity window as has been found for normal compass orientation. This can be attributed to their origin in the magnetite-based receptor in the upper beak, which operates according to fundamentally different principles than the radical pair mechanism in the retina mediating compass orientation. “Fixed direction” responses are possibly a relict of a receptor mechanism that changed its function, now mainly providing information on magnetic intensity.     

Light-dependent magnetoreception in birds: interaction of at least two different receptors

Passerine migrants require light from the blue-green part of the spectrum for magnetic compass orientation; under yellow light, they are disoriented. European robins tested under a combination of yellow light and blue or green light showed a change in behavior, no longer preferring their seasonally appropriate migratory direction: in spring as well as in autumn, they preferred southerly headings under blue-and-yellow and northerly headings under green-and-yellow light. This clearly shows that yellow light is not neutral and suggests the involvement of at least two types of receptors in obtaining magnetic compass information, with the specific interaction of these receptors being rather complex.     

Pigeon homing: Different effects of olfactory deprivation in different countries

Summary This study compares the orientation of untreated pigeons and pigeons subjected to olfactory deprivation at two lofts near Pisa, Italy, at a loft at Ithaca, New York, USA, and at a loft at Frankfurt a.M., FRG. The experimental birds were rendered anosmic by nasal plugs until Gingicain, a local anaesthetic, was applied shortly before release. The Italian and American control pigeons appeared to orient towards home equally well, while the control pigeons in Germany frequently preferred directions that deviated significantly from the home direction. The effect of olfactory deprivation was small in the USA and in Germany; it was significantly larger in Italy, indicating that Italian pigeons depend on olfactory information to a much greater extent. These findings suggest that there are important regional differences in the strategies and cues pigeons use to navigate. The varied roles of olfactory information, and the reasons for these differences are discussed.     

Pigeon homing: the effect of a clock-shift is often smaller than predicted

This analysis is based on 103 releases with 6-h clock-shifted pigeons of various ages and experiences. Resetting the internal clock normally leads to a significant change in initial orientation; however, in half of the cases, the induced deflections are significantly smaller than predicted by the sun compass hypothesis. The relative size of the deflections decreases with increasing age and experience (Fig. 3). Only young pigeons with limited experience respond as expected, while old birds show deflections which are, on the average, only slightly more than half of the predicted size, except at extremely familiar sites (Table 2). There is no difference between fast and slow shifts (Fig. 4). It is not possible to clearly specify under what circumstances smaller deflections occur; previous clock-shifts (Fig. 5), familiarity with the release site (Table 4) and duration of the shifting procedure (Table 5) do not seem to be the reasons. Clock-shifting also tends to decrease the vector lengths and has a marked effect on homing performance (Table 7). Nevertheless, considerable numbers of clock-shifted birds return on the day of release before their internal clock has begun to be reset back to normal. The general role of the sun compass in bird orientation is considered and theoretical implications of our findings are discussed in view of the map and compass-model and the possibility that an alternative, non-time-compensating compass is used in parallel with the sun compass.     

The effect of a “permanent” clock-shift on the orientation of experienced homing pigeons

Summary A group of experienced homing pigeons vas subjected to a 6 h slow shift of their internal clock and kept under these conditions for more than 2 months. During the overlap time between the natural and artificial photoperiods they were released for training flights to familiarize them with an area while living in a permanent shift.Tested outside the permanent shift training range, the experimentals always deviated about 30° clockwise from the mean of their controls, markedly less than in a regular 6 h slow shift. Inside the permanent shift training range, however, they oriented like the controls (Fig. 2). When their internal clock was returned to normal, the birds showed a larger counterclockwise deflection on their first flight, which was roughly comparable to the effect of a regular 6 h fast shift (Fig. 3). On later flights after normalization, this large shift was no longer found; instead we observed a roughly 30° counterclockwise deflection when they were released inside the permanent shift training range in the morning. This deflection did not seem to occur in the afternoon or outside the permanent shift training range (Figs. 4, 5), and it disappeared when the birds were repeatedly released from the same site (Fig. 6).The occurrence or non-occurrence of the deflection was independent of the duration of the shift or the time passed after normalization; it seemed to depend solely on whether the birds had become familiar with a given site in the situation of the permanent shift. This argues against an effect based on the sun compass. We tend to assume that the still unknown navigational map is involved. In this case, however, as the deflection is independent of the home direction and the type of release site bias, the factors in question would act very differently from the gradients on which the traditional concepts of the navigational map are based. The processes establishing and updating the map and their possible differences are discussed.Died on August 17, 1980     

Magnetic compass orientation of migratory birds in the presence of a 1.315 MHz oscillating field

The radical pair model of magnetoreception predicts that magnetic compass orientation can be disrupted by high frequency magnetic fields in the Megahertz range. European robins, Erithacus rubecula, were tested under monochromatic 565 nm green light in 1.315 MHz fields of 0.48 T during spring and autumn migration, with 1.315 MHz being the frequency that matches the energetic splitting induced by the local geomagnetic field. The birds responses depended on the alignment of the oscillating field with respect to the static geomagnetic field: when the 1.315 MHz field was aligned parallel with the field lines, birds significantly preferred northerly directions in spring and southerly directions in autumn. These preferences reflect normal migratory orientation, with the variance slightly increased compared to control tests in the geomagnetic field alone or to tests in a 7.0 MHz field. However, in the 1.315 MHz field aligned at a 24° angle to the field lines, the birds were disoriented in both seasons, indicating that the high frequency field interfered with magnetoreception. These finding are in agreement with theoretical predictions and support the assumption of a radical-pair mechanism underlying the processes mediating magnetic compass information in birds.     

The sea-finding behavior of hatchling olive ridley sea turtles, Lepidochelys olivacea, at the beach of San Miguel (Costa Rica)

Newly hatched olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) were tested for their directional preferences in a sand-filled circular arena in total darkness. Hatchlings that had crawled about 5 m on the beach, toward the sea preferred the southwesterly direction that would have brought them to the water line, whereas hatchlings that had been denied this experience headed eastward, a direction of unclear origin. These data suggest that a short crawl across the natural beach can set the direction in which the young turtles subsequently move. The crawling experience was sufficient to acquire the compass course that they later follow, probably with the help of a magnetic compass, not only in the water, but already while still on land.