Pigeons (C. livia) Follow Their Head during Turning Flight: Head Stabilization Underlies the Visual Control of Flight
Similar flight control principles operate across insect and vertebrate fliers. These principles indicate that robust solutions have evolved to meet complex behavioral challenges. Following from studies of visual and cervical feedback control of flight in insects, we investigate the role of head stab...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2017.00655/full |
| _version_ | 1818134215847313408 |
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| author | Ivo G. Ros Ivo G. Ros Andrew A. Biewener |
| author_facet | Ivo G. Ros Ivo G. Ros Andrew A. Biewener |
| author_sort | Ivo G. Ros |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Similar flight control principles operate across insect and vertebrate fliers. These principles indicate that robust solutions have evolved to meet complex behavioral challenges. Following from studies of visual and cervical feedback control of flight in insects, we investigate the role of head stabilization in providing feedback cues for controlling turning flight in pigeons. Based on previous observations that the eyes of pigeons remain at relatively fixed orientations within the head during flight, we test potential sensory control inputs derived from head and body movements during 90° aerial turns. We observe that periods of angular head stabilization alternate with rapid head repositioning movements (head saccades), and confirm that control of head motion is decoupled from aerodynamic and inertial forces acting on the bird's continuously rotating body during turning flapping flight. Visual cues inferred from head saccades correlate with changes in flight trajectory; whereas the magnitude of neck bending predicts angular changes in body position. The control of head motion to stabilize a pigeon's gaze may therefore facilitate extraction of important motion cues, in addition to offering mechanisms for controlling body and wing movements. Strong similarities between the sensory flight control of birds and insects may also inspire novel designs of robust controllers for human-engineered autonomous aerial vehicles. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T09:05:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2569211cd3e745a5bf84ec04375c215a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T09:05:05Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-2569211cd3e745a5bf84ec04375c215a2022-12-22T01:13:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2017-12-011110.3389/fnins.2017.00655297927Pigeons (C. livia) Follow Their Head during Turning Flight: Head Stabilization Underlies the Visual Control of FlightIvo G. Ros0Ivo G. Ros1Andrew A. Biewener2Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United StatesDivision of Biology and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United StatesDepartment of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United StatesSimilar flight control principles operate across insect and vertebrate fliers. These principles indicate that robust solutions have evolved to meet complex behavioral challenges. Following from studies of visual and cervical feedback control of flight in insects, we investigate the role of head stabilization in providing feedback cues for controlling turning flight in pigeons. Based on previous observations that the eyes of pigeons remain at relatively fixed orientations within the head during flight, we test potential sensory control inputs derived from head and body movements during 90° aerial turns. We observe that periods of angular head stabilization alternate with rapid head repositioning movements (head saccades), and confirm that control of head motion is decoupled from aerodynamic and inertial forces acting on the bird's continuously rotating body during turning flapping flight. Visual cues inferred from head saccades correlate with changes in flight trajectory; whereas the magnitude of neck bending predicts angular changes in body position. The control of head motion to stabilize a pigeon's gaze may therefore facilitate extraction of important motion cues, in addition to offering mechanisms for controlling body and wing movements. Strong similarities between the sensory flight control of birds and insects may also inspire novel designs of robust controllers for human-engineered autonomous aerial vehicles.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2017.00655/fullhead stabilizationturning flightColumba liviasensory feedback controlgaze |
| spellingShingle | Ivo G. Ros Ivo G. Ros Andrew A. Biewener Pigeons (C. livia) Follow Their Head during Turning Flight: Head Stabilization Underlies the Visual Control of Flight Frontiers in Neuroscience head stabilization turning flight Columba livia sensory feedback control gaze |
| title | Pigeons (C. livia) Follow Their Head during Turning Flight: Head Stabilization Underlies the Visual Control of Flight |
| title_full | Pigeons (C. livia) Follow Their Head during Turning Flight: Head Stabilization Underlies the Visual Control of Flight |
| title_fullStr | Pigeons (C. livia) Follow Their Head during Turning Flight: Head Stabilization Underlies the Visual Control of Flight |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pigeons (C. livia) Follow Their Head during Turning Flight: Head Stabilization Underlies the Visual Control of Flight |
| title_short | Pigeons (C. livia) Follow Their Head during Turning Flight: Head Stabilization Underlies the Visual Control of Flight |
| title_sort | pigeons c livia follow their head during turning flight head stabilization underlies the visual control of flight |
| topic | head stabilization turning flight Columba livia sensory feedback control gaze |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2017.00655/full |
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