Summary
To study the relative importance of piloting by familiar landmarks compared to navigation using a ‘map’ and a compass at familiar sites, 6 h slow shifted pigeons were released under sun at locations from which they had homed more than 60 times before. They showed the typical ca. 90 ° clockwise deviation from the mean of the controls indicating the use of the sun compass.
These findings show that even at very familiar sites the home direction is determined as a compass direction. There is no evidence for piloting, i.e. following chains of familiar landmarks. Another use of landmarks, however, namely their use to recognize a location where the home course is known from previous experience, appears possible.
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Füller, E., Kowalski, U. & Wiltschko, R. Orientation of homing pigeons: compass orientation vs piloting by familiar landmarks. J. Comp. Physiol. 153, 55–58 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00610342
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00610342