Avian magnetic compass: fast adjustment to intensities outside the normal functional window |
| |
Authors: | Wolfgang Wiltschko Katrin Stapput Peter Thalau Roswitha Wiltschko |
| |
Institution: | 1. Fachbereich Biowissenschaften der J.W. Goethe-Universit?t Frankfurt, Siesmayerstraβe 70, 60054, Frankfurt a.M., Germany
|
| |
Abstract: | To determine how fast birds can adapt to magnetic intensities outside the normal functional window of their magnetic compass,
we tested migratory birds in a magnetic field of 92,000 nT, twice the intensity of the local geomagnetic field at the test
site in Frankfurt a.M., Germany. In the local field, robins showed a significant preference of their southerly migratory direction,
whereas in the 92,000-nT field, they were initially disoriented. However, when the birds were preexposed to 92,000 nT for
1 h before being tested, they were able to orient under this intensity, and their behavior did not differ from that in the
geomagnetic field. These data show that birds require only a short time to adjust to magnetic intensities, which they cannot
spontaneously use for orientation. Interpreting these findings in view of the radical pair model (Ritz et al. 2000), this means that they can learn rather quickly to interpret novel activation patterns on their retina. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|