Night-migratory Songbirds Possess a Magnetic Compass in Both Eyes

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2012 Sep 18

PMID 22984416

Citations 12

Authors

Svenja Engels

Christine Maira Hein

Nele Lefeldt

Helmut Prior

Henrik Mouritsen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Previous studies on European robins, Erithacus rubecula, and Australian silvereyes, Zosterops lateralis, had suggested that magnetic compass information is being processed only in the right eye and left brain hemisphere of migratory birds. However, recently it was demonstrated that both garden warblers, Sylvia borin, and European robins have a magnetic compass in both eyes. These results raise the question if the strong lateralization effect observed in earlier experiments might have arisen from artifacts or from differences in experimental conditions rather than reflecting a true all-or-none lateralization of the magnetic compass in European robins. Here we show that (1) European robins having only their left eye open can orient in their seasonally appropriate direction both during autumn and spring, i.e. there are no strong lateralization differences between the outward journey and the way home, that (2) their directional choices are based on the standard inclination compass as they are turned 180° when the inclination is reversed, and that (3) the capability to use the magnetic compass does not depend on monocular learning or intraocular transfer as it is already present in the first tests of the birds with only one eye open.

Citing Articles

Night-time neuronal activation of Cluster N in a North American songbird.

Rudolf J, Philipello N, Fleihan T, Dickman J, Delmore K PLoS One. 2024; 19(3):e0300479.

PMID: 38512887 PMC: 10956746. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300479.

Double cones in the avian retina form an oriented mosaic which might facilitate magnetoreception and/or polarized light sensing.

Chetverikova R, Dautaj G, Schwigon L, Dedek K, Mouritsen H J R Soc Interface. 2022; 19(189):20210877.

PMID: 35414212 PMC: 9006000. DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0877.

Localisation of cryptochrome 2 in the avian retina.

Einwich A, Seth P, Bartolke R, Bolte P, Feederle R, Dedek K J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2021; 208(1):69-81.

PMID: 34677638 PMC: 8918457. DOI: 10.1007/s00359-021-01506-1.

A novel isoform of cryptochrome 4 (Cry4b) is expressed in the retina of a night-migratory songbird.

Einwich A, Dedek K, Seth P, Laubinger S, Mouritsen H Sci Rep. 2020; 10(1):15794.

PMID: 32978454 PMC: 7519125. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72579-2.

Magnetoreception in birds.

Wiltschko R, Wiltschko W J R Soc Interface. 2019; 16(158):20190295.

PMID: 31480921 PMC: 6769297. DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0295.

References

Hart N, Partridge J, Cuthill I . Retinal asymmetry in birds. Curr Biol. 2000; 10(2):115-7. DOI: 10.1016/s0960-9822(00)00297-9. View

Mouritsen . Redstarts, Phoenicurus phoenicurus, can orient in a true-zero magnetic field. Anim Behav. 1998; 55(5):1311-24. DOI: 10.1006/anbe.1997.0696. View

Mouritsen H, Feenders G, Liedvogel M, Wada K, Jarvis E . Night-vision brain area in migratory songbirds. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005; 102(23):8339-44. PMC: 1149410. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0409575102. View

Mouritsen H, Ritz T . Magnetoreception and its use in bird navigation. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2005; 15(4):406-14. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2005.06.003. View

Rogers L, Munro U, Freire R, Wiltschko R, Wiltschko W . Lateralized response of chicks to magnetic cues. Behav Brain Res. 2007; 186(1):66-71. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2007.07.029. View

Chernetsov N, Kishkinev D, Mouritsen H . A long-distance avian migrant compensates for longitudinal displacement during spring migration. Curr Biol. 2008; 18(3):188-90. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2008.01.018. View

Zapka M, Heyers D, Liedvogel M, Jarvis E, Mouritsen H . Night-time neuronal activation of Cluster N in a day- and night-migrating songbird. Eur J Neurosci. 2010; 32(4):619-24. PMC: 2924469. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07311.x. View

Ritz T, Thalau P, Phillips J, Wiltschko R, Wiltschko W . Resonance effects indicate a radical-pair mechanism for avian magnetic compass. Nature. 2004; 429(6988):177-80. DOI: 10.1038/nature02534. View

Mouritsen H, Hore P . The magnetic retina: light-dependent and trigeminal magnetoreception in migratory birds. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2012; 22(2):343-52. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2012.01.005. View

10.

McGill J, Powell T, Cowan W . The retinal representation upon the optic tectum and isthmo-optic nucleus in the pigeon. J Anat. 1966; 100(Pt 1):5-33. PMC: 1270761. View

11.

Mouritsen H, Mouritsen O . A mathematical expectation model for bird navigation based on the clock-and-compass strategy. J Theor Biol. 2000; 207(2):283-91. DOI: 10.1006/jtbi.2000.2171. View

12.

Schulten K, Weller A . Exploring fast electron transfer processes by magnetic fields. Biophys J. 1978; 24(1):295-305. PMC: 1473906. DOI: 10.1016/S0006-3495(78)85378-8. View

13.

Kirschvink J . Uniform magnetic fields and double-wrapped coil systems: improved techniques for the design of bioelectromagnetic experiments. Bioelectromagnetics. 1992; 13(5):401-11. DOI: 10.1002/bem.2250130507. View

14.

Wiltschko R, Ritz T, Stapput K, Thalau P, Wiltschko W . Two different types of light-dependent responses to magnetic fields in birds. Curr Biol. 2005; 15(16):1518-23. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2005.07.037. View

15.

Prior H, Lingenauber F, Nitschke J, Gunturkun O . Orientation and lateralized cue use in pigeons navigating a large indoor environment. J Exp Biol. 2002; 205(Pt 12):1795-805. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.205.12.1795. View

16.

Ritz T, Ahmad M, Mouritsen H, Wiltschko R, Wiltschko W . Photoreceptor-based magnetoreception: optimal design of receptor molecules, cells, and neuronal processing. J R Soc Interface. 2010; 7 Suppl 2:S135-46. PMC: 2843994. DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2009.0456.focus. View

17.

Heyers D, Manns M, Luksch H, Gunturkun O, Mouritsen H . A visual pathway links brain structures active during magnetic compass orientation in migratory birds. PLoS One. 2007; 2(9):e937. PMC: 1976598. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000937. View

18.

Ritz T, Adem S, Schulten K . A model for photoreceptor-based magnetoreception in birds. Biophys J. 2000; 78(2):707-18. PMC: 1300674. DOI: 10.1016/S0006-3495(00)76629-X. View

19.

Wiltschko W, Traudt J, Gunturkun O, Prior H, Wiltschko R . Lateralization of magnetic compass orientation in a migratory bird. Nature. 2002; 419(6906):467-70. DOI: 10.1038/nature00958. View

20.

Diekamp B, Prior H, Ioale P, Odetti F, Gunturkun O, Gagliardo A . Effects of monocular viewing on orientation in an arena at the release site and homing performance in pigeons. Behav Brain Res. 2002; 136(1):103-11. DOI: 10.1016/s0166-4328(02)00106-7. View