Infrasound and the Avian Navigational Map

Birds can accurately navigate over hundreds to thousands of kilometres, and use celestial and magnetic compass senses to orient their flight. How birds determine their location in order to select the correct homeward bearing (map sense) remains controversial, and has been attributed to their olfactory or magnetic senses. Pigeons can hear infrasound down to 0·05 Hz, and an acoustic avian map is proposed consisting of infrasonic cues radiated from steep-sided topographic features. The source of these infrasonic signals is microseisms continuously generated by interfering oceanic waves. Atmospheric processes affecting the infrasonic map cues can explain perplexing experimental results from pigeon releases. Moreover, four recent disrupted pigeon races in Europe and the north-eastern USA intersected infrasonic shock waves from the Concorde supersonic transport. Having an acoustic map might also allow clock-shifted birds to test their homeward progress and select between their magnetic and solar compasses.

[1]  D. E. Hudson.  An Introduction to the Theory of Seismology, Fourth Edition , 1987 .

[2]  W. Y. Soper.  Effects of analgesic midbrain stimulation on reflex withdrawal and thermal escape in the rat. , 1976, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[3]  J. M. Young,et al.  Anomalous infrasound generated by the Alaskan earthquake of 28 March 1964 , 1982 .

[4]  Papi,et al.  Pinpointing 'Isla Meta': the case of sea turtles and albatrosses , 1996, The Journal of experimental biology.

[5]  Abl.  The debate over olfactory navigation by homing pigeons , 1996, The Journal of experimental biology.

[6]  Alfred J. Bedard,et al.  Infrasound Originating Near Mountainous Regions in Colorado , 1978 .

[7]  H. G. Wallraff.  The present status of our knowledge about pigeon homing , 1967 .

[8]  Paul G. Richards,et al.  Quantitative Seismology: Theory and Methods , 1980 .

[9]  John C. Montgomery,et al.  Structure and function of the vertebrate magnetic sense , 1997, Nature.

[10]  H. G. Wallraff.  Homing of pigeons after extirpation of their cochleae and lagenae. , 1972, Nature: New biology.

[11]  W. Wiltschko,et al.  Magnetic orientation in birds , 1996, The Journal of experimental biology.

[12]  R. E. Wallace,et al.  Prediction of the Sungpan-Pingwu earthquakes, August 1976 , 1980 .

[13]  G. Wagner.  Homing Pigeons’ Flight Over and Under Low Stratus , 1978 .

[14]  M. Tosi,et al.  Archaeomagnetism in Iran , 1972, Nature.

[15]  F. Papi.  Pigeons use olfactory cues to navigate , 1989 .

[16]  William T. Keeton,et al.  The Orientational and Navigational Basis of Homing in Birds , 1974 .

[17]  W. Wiltschko,et al.  Pigeons with a deficient sun compass use the magnetic compass. , 1981, Science.

[18]  G. Wagner.  Topography and pigeon orientation , 1972 .

[19]  R. STONELEY,et al.  An Introduction to the Theory of Seismology , 1949, Nature.

[20]  W. Keeton,et al.  Magnets interfere with pigeon homing. , 1971, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[21]  M. Clarke,et al.  An immunological study of predation on hatchery-reared, juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus, Linnaeus): description of an ELISA and predator-prey studies in nature , 1996 .

[22]  William L. Donn,et al.  Sea wave origin of microbaroms and microseisms , 1973 .

[23]  B. Bruderer.  Effects of Alpine Topography and Winds on Migrating Birds , 1978 .

[24]  H. Kanamori.  The energy release in great earthquakes , 1977 .

[25]  Donald M. Windsor,et al.  Regional expression of directional preferences by experienced homing pigeons , 1975, Animal Behaviour.

[26]  J. L. Gould,et al.  The map sense of pigeons , 1982, Nature.

[27]  R. Wiltschko,et al.  The function of olfactory input in pigeon orientation: does it provide navigational information or play another role? , 1996, The Journal of experimental biology.

[28]  Walcott.  Pigeon homing: observations, experiments and confusions , 1996, The Journal of experimental biology.

[29]  M. Kreithen.  Sensory Mechanisms for Animal Orientation - Can Any New Ones be Discovered? , 1978 .

[30]  K. Schmidt-Koenig,et al.  Animal Migration, Navigation, and Homing , 1978 .

[31]  W. Donn.  Exploring the atmosphere with sonic booms , 1978 .

[32]  Donald R. Griffin,et al.  The Physiology and Geophysics of Bird Navigation , 1969, The Quarterly Review of Biology.

[33]  Alerstam.  The geographical scale factor in orientation of migrating birds , 1996, The Journal of experimental biology.

[34]  E. Posmentier,et al.  Ground‐coupled air waves from the Great Alaskan Earthquake , 1964 .

[35]  K. Schmidt-Koenig,et al.  Homing in pigeons with impaired vision. , 1972, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.