Avian Navigation: Pigeon Homing as a Paradigm

How migratory birds can navigate home from their wintering grounds to their breeding sites over hundreds and thousands of kilometres has been an admired mystery over more than a century. Profound advances towards a solution of this problem have been achieved with a model bird, the homing pigeon. Thi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wallraff, Hans G. (Author)
Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2005.
Subjects:
Online Access:Full Text via HEAL-Link
Description
Summary:How migratory birds can navigate home from their wintering grounds to their breeding sites over hundreds and thousands of kilometres has been an admired mystery over more than a century. Profound advances towards a solution of this problem have been achieved with a model bird, the homing pigeon. This monograph summarizes our current knowledge about pigeon homing, about the birds' application of a sun compass and a magnetic compass, of a visual topographical map within a familiar area and -- most surprisingly -- of an olfactory map using atmospheric chemosignals as indicators of position in distant unfamiliar areas.
Physical Description:XII, 229 p. online resource.
ISBN:9783540264323