Schmidt-Koenig K, Schlichte H J
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1972 Sep;69(9):2446-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.9.2446.
In order to test the importance of vision in homing pigeons, their vision was impaired by frosted contact lenses. Pigeons wearing such lenses seemed unable to recognize artificial landmarks at 6-m distance. Nevertheless, most birds homed from distances of 15 km, and some even from 130-km distance. This result indicates that, contrary to common expectation, vision need not play an essential role in homing.
为了测试视觉在信鸽归巢中的重要性，它们的视觉通过磨砂隐形眼镜受到了损害。佩戴这种隐形眼镜的鸽子似乎无法在6米的距离识别人工地标。然而，大多数鸽子能从15公里的距离归巢，有些甚至能从130公里的距离归巢。这一结果表明，与普遍预期相反，视觉在归巢中不一定起关键作用。
