Development of the navigational system in homing pigeons: increase in complexity of the navigational map

Abstract

In the present study we analysed GPS-recorded tracks from pigeons of different ages from 11 sites between 3.6 and 22.1 km from the home loft, which revealed changes in the navigational system as the birds grew older and became more experienced. The efficiency of juveniles in their first year of life, at only 0.27, was rather low, indicating that the young birds covered more than three times the direct distance home. In the second year, after a standard training programme, the efficiency of the same birds increased to 0.80 and was no longer different from that of older pigeons. The short-term correlation dimension, a variable that reflects the number of factors involved in the navigational process, also increased with age. In juveniles, it was markedly lower than in the other two groups, but even in yearlings it was still significantly lower than that of old pigeons, indicating that the navigational map of yearlings is still developing. Our results indicate that the map system, although functional in the first year of life, continues to become more complex - older pigeons seem to either consider more navigational factors than younger ones or at least weigh the same factors differently.