Learning of absolute and relative distance and direction from discrete visual landmarks by pigeons (Columba livia).

Bradley R. Sturz; Jeffrey S. Katz

doi:10.1037/a0012905

Learning of absolute and relative distance and direction from discrete visual landmarks by pigeons (Columba livia).

Journal of Comparative Psychology ◽

10.1037/a0012905 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 123 (1) ◽

pp. 90-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Bradley R. Sturz ◽

Jeffrey S. Katz

Keyword(s):

Columba Livia ◽

Relative Distance ◽

Visual Landmarks

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Learning of relative distance between discrete visual landmarks by pigeons (Columba livia)

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e603982013-089 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

Bradley R. Sturz ◽

Jeffrey S. Katz

Keyword(s):

Columba Livia ◽

Relative Distance ◽

Visual Landmarks

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Recognition of Familiar Visual Landmarks in Homing Pigeons

Journal of Navigation ◽

10.1017/s0373463300011814 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 371-375 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

V. A. Braithwaite ◽

T. C. Guilford

Keyword(s):

Release Site ◽

Columba Livia ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Visual Landmarks ◽

Homing Pigeons ◽

Homing Behaviour ◽

Similar Improvement ◽

Current Location

It is now well established that homing pigeons (Columba livia) use a variety of mechanisms and cues to help them find their way home. It is far more difficult to determine the relative importance attached to such mechanisms and cues by pigeons during homing. As a step towards this quantitative stage in our understanding of homing behaviour we consider if cues contribute significantly to homing speed. In particular we attempt to assess the role of visual landmarks. Using pigeons released from familiar release sites, we demonstrate that birds home faster if they can view their surroundings from inside a Perspex box for 5 minutes prior to being released, compared to birds denied this view. Pigeons released from unfamiliar sites, however, do not show a similar improvement. We suggest that seeing familiar visual landmarks before release allows pigeons to become more certain of their current location with respect to home. Simply viewing the release site is not sufficient to produce a faster homing speed; the pigeons must be able to recognize that the release site is familiar.

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