Record Display for the EPA National Library Catalog

RECORD NUMBER: 15 OF 199

Main Title Avian Navigation: Pigeon Homing as a Paradigm [electronic resource] /
Type EBOOK
Author Wallraff, Hans G.
Publisher Springer Berlin Heidelberg,
Year Published 2005
Call Number QL750-795
ISBN 9783540264323
Subjects Life sciences ; Animal behavior ; Animal ecology
Internet Access
Description Access URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/b137573
Collation XII, 229 p. online resource.
Notes
Due to license restrictions, this resource is available to EPA employees and authorized contractors only
Contents Notes
Observation Data Used to Investigate Pigeon Homing -- Basic Features of Pigeon Homing -- Potential Input Signals Exploitable for Home-Finding -- The Role of the Sun -- The Role of the Geomagnetic Field -- The Role of the Chemical Atmosphere -- The Role of the Visual Landscape -- The Neural Bases of Pigeon Homing -- Homing in Other Birds -- Research History: Blind Alleys and an Unexpected Passage -- Overall Synthesis and Perspective. 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.