FURTHER OBSERVATIONS OF HOMING TERNS

Open Access

1 October 1956

journal article
other
Published by University of Chicago Press in The Biological Bulletin

Vol. 111 (2) , 235-239
https://doi.org/10.2307/1539015

Abstract

1. Our observations of the initial flight directions of common terns released in unfamiliar territory have been extended to include birds from the Great Lakes region as well as from the New England coast. When terns from both populations were released on the same day at Cortland, New York, both groups showed a tendency to head approximately southeast. 2. The first mile or two of the terns' flight paths were plotted on a topographic map of the area. Aside from the fact that a small pond attracted some of the birds, topography did not offer any apparent explanation of their headings, and a few persisted on a southeasterly course over moderately high hills.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:

The Factor of Topographical Cues in Bird Homing Experiments
Ecology, 1955
INITIAL FLIGHT DIRECTIONS OF HOMING BIRDS
The Biological Bulletin, 1955