Tracking clock-shifted homing pigeons from familiar release sites

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • F. Bonadona
  • Richard Holland
    University of Oxford
  • L. Dall'Antonia
  • T. Guilford
  • S. Benvenuti
Clock-shifted homing pigeons were tracked from familiar sites 17.1km and 23.5 km from the home loft in Pisa, Italy, using an on-board route recorder. At the first release site, north of home, the majority of clock-shifted birds had relatively straight tracks comparable with those of control birds, At the second release site, south of home, the clock-shifted birds deflected in the direction predicted for the degree of clock shift, with many birds travelling some distance in the wrong direction before correcting their course. The possible role of large-scale terrain features in homing pigeon navigation is discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)207-212
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Experimental Biology
Volume203
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2000
Externally publishedYes
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