The Orientation System of a Night-Migrating Songbird

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The Orientation System of a Night-migrating Songbird Kenneth P. Able, Principal Investigator Non-technical Summary The orientation and navigation performed by birds that migrate long distances are among the most complex behaviors performed by animals. Their reliance on several interacting compass systems provides the migrants with flexible orientation behavior that enables them to cope with the variety of environmental conditions and navigation problems that may be encountered enroute. The compasses used by migratory birds (magnetic, star, sun and polarized compasses) interact during the development of orientation abilities in young birds and also in mature, experienced migrants. These interactions take the form of calibration of one system by another. This project will use two approaches to determine the nature of these interactions. First, birds will be hand-raised under conditions in which their experience with relevant orientation cues can be controlled and manipulated. In this way, the interactions and calibrations that occur during the development of compass orientation abilities in the young animal can be explored. Experiments with adult birds will reveal the extent and nature of plasticity that persists throughout the life of a migratory bird. Migratory orientation provides some of the most elegant examples of the interplay of genetically-based learning predispositions with experience in the development and control of behavior.