Birds use right nostril to navigate
Thursday, February 3, 2011 - 18:01
in Biology & Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- Pigeons rely mainly on their olfactory sense when they navigate. Young pigeons learn to recognize environmental odours carried by the winds into the loft and to use these odours to find their way home from unfamiliar territory. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Anna Gagliardo from the University of Pisa, and their colleagues at the University of Trient recently demonstrated that pigeons navigate more poorly with their right nostril blocked.
