Data from: Olfaction and topography, but not magnetic cues, control navigation in a pelagic seabird: displacements with shearwaters in the Mediterranean Sea

Pollonara E, Luschi P, Guilford T, Wikelski M, Bonadonna F, Gagliardo A. 2015. Data from: Olfaction and topography, but not magnetic cues, control navigation in a pelagic seabird: displacements with shearwaters in the Mediterranean Sea. Movebank Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.tc76g560

Abstract

Pelagic seabirds wander the open oceans then return accurately to their habitual nest-sites. We investigated the effects of sensory manipulation on oceanic navigation in Scopoli’s shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) breeding at Pianosa island (Italy), by displacing them 400 km from their colony and tracking them. A recent experiment on Atlantic shearwaters (Cory’s shearwater, Calonectris borealis) breeding in the Azores indicated a crucial role of olfaction over the open ocean, but left open the question of whether birds might navigate by topographical landmark cues when available. Our experiment was conducted in the Mediterranean sea, where the availability of topographical cues may provide an alternative navigational mechanism for homing. Magnetically disturbed shearwaters and control birds oriented homeward even when the coast was not visible and rapidly homed. Anosmic shearwaters oriented in a direction significantly different from the home direction when in open sea. After having approached a coastline their flight path changed from convoluted to homeward oriented, so that most of them eventually reached home. Beside confirming that magnetic cues appear unimportant for oceanic navigation by seabirds, our results support the crucial role of olfactory cues for birds’ navigation and reveal that anosmic shearwaters are able to home eventually by following coastal features.

Keywords

Calonectris diomedea,Argos,Calonectris diomedea,magnetic map,Mediterranean Sea,navigation,olfaction,Pianosa Island,seabird,Scopoli’s shearwaters,visual landmarks

Taxa

Taxon

Calonectris diomedea

Cory's Shearwater

Sensors

Sensor

Argos Doppler Shift

DOIs of related Publications

https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16486

URI

https://datarepository.movebank.org/handle/10255/move.457

BibTex

@misc{001/1_tc76g560,
  title = {Data from: Olfaction and topography, but not magnetic cues, control navigation in a pelagic seabird: displacements with shearwaters in the Mediterranean Sea},
  author = {Pollonara, E and Luschi, P and Guilford, T and Wikelski, M and Bonadonna, F and Gagliardo, A},
  year = {2015},
  URL = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.tc76g560},
  doi = {doi:10.5441/001/1.tc76g560},
  publisher = {Movebank data repository}
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
ID  - doi:10.5441/001/1.tc76g560
T1  - Data from: Olfaction and topography, but not magnetic cues, control navigation in a pelagic seabird: displacements with shearwaters in the Mediterranean Sea
AU  - Pollonara, Enrica
AU  - Luschi, Paolo
AU  - Guilford, Tim
AU  - Wikelski, Martin
AU  - Bonadonna, Francesco
AU  - Gagliardo, Anna
Y1  - 2015/10/27
KW  - Calonectris diomedea
KW  - animal tracking
KW  - Argos
KW  - Calonectris diomedea
KW  - magnetic map
KW  - Mediterranean Sea
KW  - navigation
KW  - olfaction
KW  - Pianosa Island
KW  - seabird
KW  - Scopoli’s shearwaters
KW  - visual landmarks
KW  - Calonectris diomedea
PB  - Movebank data repository
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.tc76g560
DO  - doi:10.5441/001/1.tc76g560
ER  -

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