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

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

Our work was supported by the Human Frontier Science Program (grant to R.W.) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grants to R.W. and W.W.). We sincerely thank D. Gehring, J. Klos, Ö. Koc, D. Kringel, J. Raschert, I. Szelecz, and P. Slattery for their valuable help with conducting the experiments. The experiments were performed in accordance with the rules and regulations of animal welfare in Germany.

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  1. FB Biowissenschaften, J.W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Siesmayerstraße 70, 60054, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Wolfgang Wiltschko, Lars Dehe, Katrin Stapput, Peter Thalau & Roswitha Wiltschko

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  1. Wolfgang Wiltschko
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  2. Lars Dehe
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  3. Katrin Stapput
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  4. Peter Thalau
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  5. Roswitha Wiltschko
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Correspondence to Roswitha Wiltschko.

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Wiltschko, W., Dehe, L., Stapput, K. et al. Magnetoreception in birds: no intensity window in “fixed direction” responses. Naturwissenschaften 97, 37–42 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-009-0608-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-009-0608-8

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