Study on the ontogeny of flight and maneuverability of the rock dove (Columba livia var. domestica ).

The paper deals with the ontogeny of the flying activities of birds. Domestic pigeons were used to investigate possibilities for interaction between phylogenetic and ontogenetic sources of information during the development of flying in the individual. The opportunities to obtain flying experience w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behaviour 1983-01, Vol.84 (3-4), p.265-286
Main Author: Krischke, N
Format: Article
Language:ger
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The paper deals with the ontogeny of the flying activities of birds. Domestic pigeons were used to investigate possibilities for interaction between phylogenetic and ontogenetic sources of information during the development of flying in the individual. The opportunities to obtain flying experience while growing up were differently manipulated in different groups of pigeons reared in the laboratory. Several aspects of flying and manoeuvring ability were measured. Pigeons raised in narrow boxes developed the basic motor patterns of slow flight. However, in pigeons which were not restrained in their wing movements, flying and manoeuvring differed at the age of 42 days between physically similar groups of which one had only been allowed to carry out flying movements at one site, whereas the other had been forced to fly distances. It was therefore concluded that flying experience obtained in an advanced phase of development of the flying apparatus leads to improvement of the flying and manoeuvring abilities.
ISSN:0005-7959