As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 2 February 2014

Hedges, edges help pigeons learn their way around

Date: January 22, 2014

Source: University of Oxford

Summary: Homing pigeons' ability to remember routes depends on the complexity of the landscape below, with hedges and boundaries between urban and rural areas providing ideal landmarks for navigation. Researchers released 31 pigeons from four sites around Oxford for an average of 20 flights each. They found that pigeons were better able to memorize flight paths when the landscape below was of a certain visual complexity, such as rural areas with hedgerows.


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