Avian Navigation : International Symposium on Avian Navigation (ISAN) Held at Tirrenia (Pisa), September 11–14, 1981

Right from the start of this century, field observations and the patient ringing of birds have made available a growing mass of data on the breeding and resting areas of migratory species and on the course, period and duration of their seasonal flights. Considered as a whole, this work on migration morphology commands admiration, and when view­ ed in detail it reveals fascinating insights into the extraordinary naviga­ tional performances of many bird species, which find their way over enormous distances. Yet only a few dozen physiologists are actively trying to answer the question of how these performances are achieved. Experimental work on migratory birds raises many difficulties, some of them insuperable, so that many researchers carry out their experiments on the homing pigeon, which is constantly motivated by homesickness and ready to display its ability to flyaway home. Many of the problems connected with bird navigation are still un­ solved, but a rapidly growing body of results is being produced along with a variety of new ideas and approaches. A clear majority of the stu­ dents of bird navigation met in September 1981 in Tirrenia, a seaside resort on the Tyrrhenian coast, where each of them offered new in­ sights into his or her recent investigations. Their contributions have been connected in this volume, which provides an up-to-date conspec­ tus of the stage reached by research in this field. Front Matter....Pages I-XIII Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Do Migrating Birds Fly Along Straight Lines?....Pages 3-14 Nocturnal Landbird Migration over Southern Ontario, Canada: Orientation vs. Wind in Autumn....Pages 15-27 Spatial Distribution of Migrating Birds and Small-Scale Atmospheric Motion....Pages 28-37 The Effects of Overcast Skies on the Orientation of Free-Flying Nocturnal Migrants....Pages 38-49 The Migratory Orientation of Garden Warblers, Sylvia borin ....Pages 50-58 Interrelation of Magnetic Compass, Star Orientation, and the Sun in the Orientation of Blackcaps and Robins....Pages 59-67 Age-Dependent Orientation in Migratory Birds....Pages 68-74 Adaptive Temporal Programming of Molt and Migratory Disposition in Two Closely Related Long-Distance Migrants, the Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) and the Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) ....Pages 75-89 Locomotory Activity of Day-Migrating Finches....Pages 90-95 Front Matter....Pages 97-97 Is There Evidence for a Magnetic Map in Homing Pigeons?....Pages 99-108 Magnetic Navigation in Pigeons: Possibilities and Problems....Pages 109-119 The Effect of Magnetic Anomalies on the Homing Behaviour of Pigeons: An Attempt to Analyse the Possible Factors Involved....Pages 120-128 Homing Pigeons’ Behaviour in the Irregular Magnetic Field of Western Switzerland....Pages 129-139 Pigeon Homing: Effect of Altered Magnetic Field During Displacement on Initial Orientation....Pages 140-148 Olfaction and Homing in Pigeons: Ten Years of Experiments....Pages 149-159 Pigeon Orientation: Experiments on the Role of Olfactory Stimuli Perceived During the Outward Journey....Pages 160-169 Pigeon Homing: Effects of Differential Shielding of Home Cages....Pages 170-178 Pigeon Homing: New Experiments Involving Permanent-Resident Deflector-Loft Birds....Pages 179-189 Reflected Light Cues Generate the Short-Term Deflector-Loft Effect....Pages 190-202 Pigeon Orientation: A Preliminary Evaluation of Factors Involved or Not Involved in the Deflector Loft Effect....Pages 203-210 Front Matter....Pages 97-97 Homing to Würzburg: An Interim Report on Long-Term Analyses of Pigeon Navigation....Pages 211-221 Distribution of Release-Site Biases Around Frankfurt a.M., Germany....Pages 222-231 Comparative Investigations of Pigeon Homing in Germany and Italy....Pages 232-238 The Role of Outward Journey Information in the Orientation of Homing Pigeons....Pages 239-252 Dependence of the Homing Pigeons’ Initial Orientation on Topographical and Meteorological Variables: A Multivariate Study....Pages 253-264 Study of Homing Pigeons in Brazil: Some Preliminary Results....Pages 265-270 Variations of Nocturnal Homing Performance in Pigeons....Pages 271-280 Front Matter....Pages 281-281 Further Complexities in the Fixed “Nonsense” Orientations of Mallard....Pages 283-289 Homing by Path Integration....Pages 290-297 Do Geese Use Path Integration for Walking Home?....Pages 298-307 A Comparative Approach to Bird Navigation: Implications of Parallel Studies on Mammals....Pages 308-312 Homing Experiments with Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) Subjected to Olfactory Nerve Section....Pages 313-318 Spatial Memory in a Passerine Migrant....Pages 319-325 Front Matter....Pages 327-327 Magnetic Sensitive Pineal Cells in Pigeons....Pages 329-337 A Search for Magnetic Field Receptors in Animals....Pages 338-343 Is the Avian Eye Pecten a Magnetic Sensor?....Pages 344-351 Functional Status and Credibility of Avian Olfaction....Pages 352-361 Activity of Central Olfactory Neurons in the Pigeon....Pages 362-372 Infrasounds: A Potential Navigational Cue for Homing Pigeons....Pages 373-376 Back Matter....Pages 377-380