Fachbereich Biowissenschaften, J. W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Biologicum, Max-von-Laue-Straße 13, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram, Jerusalem, Israel.
PLoS One. 2018 Sep 27;13(9):e0201291. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201291. eCollection 2018.
Homing tracks of two groups of pigeons, Columba livia f. domestica, were analyzed in view of difference between individual birds and correlations between characteristic variables, looking at the initial phase while the pigeons were still at the release site, and the homing phase separately. Individual birds differed significantly in their flying speed during the initial phase, and one pigeon tended to stay longer at the release site than the others. There were no significant differences in steadiness and efficiency, indicating that all pigeons homed equally well. Differences in correlation dimension, a variable reflecting the complexity of the navigational process, reflect differences in the use of navigational information, with one bird apparently using less complex information than others. The flying speed during the initial phase was positively correlated with the flying speed during the homing phase. During the homing phase, the steadiness of flight and the efficiency of homing were closely correlated, and both tended to be positively correlated with the correlation dimension, suggesting that birds that use more complex navigational information home more efficiently.
对两组家鸽（Columba livia f. domestica）的归巢轨迹进行了分析，分别从个体差异和特征变量之间的相关性两个方面，考察了鸽子仍在放飞点时的初始阶段和归巢阶段。个体在初始阶段的飞行速度存在显著差异，一只鸽子在放飞点停留的时间比其他鸽子长。而稳定性和效率没有显著差异，这表明所有鸽子归巢的能力相当。反映导航过程复杂性的关联维数的差异反映了导航信息使用方式的差异，其中一只鸽子显然比其他鸽子使用的信息不那么复杂。初始阶段的飞行速度与归巢阶段的飞行速度呈正相关。在归巢阶段，飞行的稳定性和归巢效率密切相关，两者都与关联维数呈正相关，这表明使用更复杂导航信息的鸟类归巢效率更高。
