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Orientation of the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca: cue-conflict experiments during spring migration

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Abstract

Hierarchical relationships among different compass systems in long-distance migrants are still a matter for discussion because different studies have led to highly variable and apparently contradictory results. We carried out cue-conflict experiments during spring migration on pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca (Passeriformes, Muscicapidae). Birds were exposed to a conflict between celestial and magnetic information by altering the polarized light pattern or magnetic field. The polarization pattern was shifted (±90°) with filters, whereas the magnetic field was altered (+90°) through Helmholtz coils. Birds were tested in modified Emlen funnels both before and after the cue conflict; during the tests, only the natural magnetic field was available. This protocol was designed to test whether the experimental birds recalibrated their magnetic compass on the directional information derived from the light polarization pattern when the region near the horizon was visible during the conflict. Contrary to this expectation, we did not record any significant shift in magnetic orientation after one or repeated exposures to the cue conflict. Our results support earlier studies, which suggest that the magnetic field is the primary compass cue during the migratory period.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the people who took part in the experiments: F. Biondi, G. Ciucci, P. Fazzi, F. Festante, P. Giusti, and E. Mancuso. We are also grateful to R. Guidi for the experimental setup and to Marchioro s.p.a. (Isola Vicentina, Vicenza, Italy) for providing gravity waterers for bird cages. We thank all ringers working in the ringing station of Ventotene Island for the invaluable opportunity of testing the pied flycatchers they mist-netted and for using part of their ringing data. The comments of two anonymous reviewers greatly improved an earlier draft of the manuscript. This work was supported by the Italian Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (MIUR) and complies with the current Italian laws on animal welfare. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Results from the “Progetto Piccole Isole” ISPRA: paper no. 43.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Pisa University, Via Volta 6, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Valentina Gaggini, N. Emilio Baldaccini & Dimitri Giunchi

  2. Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Sede Amministrativa ex-INFS, Via Ca’ Fornacetta 9, 40064 Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy

    Fernando Spina

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  1. Valentina Gaggini
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  2. N. Emilio Baldaccini
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  3. Fernando Spina
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  4. Dimitri Giunchi
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Correspondence to Dimitri Giunchi.

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Communicated by W. Wiltschko.

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Gaggini, V., Baldaccini, N.E., Spina, F. et al. Orientation of the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca: cue-conflict experiments during spring migration. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64, 1333–1342 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0948-6

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