Interactions and Flexibility in the Orientation System of Migratory Birds

脊椎动物的定向和导航行为非常复杂，并且依赖于多种相互作用的线索。该系统使动物能够灵活地应对迁徙过程中可能遇到的各种环境条件。这种行为上的灵活性使动物能够准确地面对它所依赖的线索的可变性和不断变化的可用性。只有在鸟类中，定向线索之间的关系才得到了详细的探讨。一只幼鸟是如何在第一次迁徙时拥有一套足够的罗盘，以成功地确定飞行方向的？Able博士将采用一种发展性的方法来解决这个问题，在控制条件下用手饲养鸟类，在这种条件下，它们对相关方向线索（地球磁场、太阳、星星、天空中的偏振光模式）的体验可以被操纵。通过这种方式，Able博士可以描述幼年动物在指南针定位能力发展过程中发生的相互作用和校准。正如在大多数复杂的行为中一样，这种发展涉及到基于基因的倾向和模板与经验和学习的丰富相互作用。这项研究将有助于提高对复杂行为发展的理解，并有助于更好地了解鸟类迁徙，这将对保护新热带候鸟的努力至关重要。

The orientation and navigation behavior of vertebrate animals is remarkable in its complexity and reliance on multiple, interacting cues. The system enables animals to respond flexibly to the variety of environmental conditions that may be encountered during a migratory journey. This flexibility in behavior enables the animal to perform accurately in the face of variability and changing availability of the cues upon which it relies. Only in birds have the relationships among orientation cues been explored in detail. How does a young bird come to possess a suite of compasses sufficient, on its first migration, to successfully determine in which direction to fly? Dr. Able will employ a developmental approach to this problem, hand-raising birds under controlled conditions in which their experiences with relevant orientation cues (earth's magnetic field, sun, stars, polarized-light patterns in the sky) can be manipulated. In this way Dr. Able can delineate the interactions and calibrations that occur during the development of compass-orientation abilities in the young animal. As in most complex behavior, this development involves a rich interplay of genetically-based predispositions and templates with experience and learning. The research will contribute importantly both to improved understanding of the development of complex behavior, and to a greater understanding of bird migration that will be crucial in efforts to conserve neotropical migratory birds.