Impaired Homing Ability in Anosmatic Pigeons

Abstract

In an attempt to explain apparent differences in the pigeon homing behaviour over different regions, some experiments with anosmatic birds have been repeated on German birds. The poor initial orientation in either controls or experimentals in many single experiments and in pooled data was an insufficient basis for the evaluation of the influence of olfactory deprivation on homeward directedness. Homing success, however, was significantly worse in experimentals than in controls, which confirmed the result of impaired homing ability of anosmatic pigeons.