Brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in zebra finches flying between perches
Flying animals have had to evolve robust and effective guidance strategies for dealing with habitat clutter. Birds and insects use optic flow expansion cues to sense and avoid obstacles, but orchid bees have also been shown to use brightness cues during gap negotiation. Such brightness cues might th...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Royal Society
2024
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| _version_ | 1826313824367542272 |
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| author | Borsier, E Sanders, H Taylor, G |
| author_facet | Borsier, E Sanders, H Taylor, G |
| author_sort | Borsier, E |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Flying animals have had to evolve robust and effective guidance strategies for dealing with habitat clutter. Birds and insects use optic flow expansion cues to sense and avoid obstacles, but orchid bees have also been shown to use brightness cues during gap negotiation. Such brightness cues might therefore be of general importance in structuring visually guided flight behaviours. To test the hypothesis that brightness cues also affect gap negotiation behaviours in birds, we presented captive zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata with a symmetric or asymmetric background brightness distribution on the other side of a tunnel. The background brightness conditions influenced both the birds’ decision to enter the tunnel aperture, and their flight direction upon exit. Zebra finches were more likely to initiate flight through the tunnel if they could see a bright background through it; they were also more likely to fly to the bright side upon exiting. We found no evidence of the centring response that would be expected if optic flow cues were balanced bilaterally during gap negotiation. Instead, the birds entered the tunnel by targeting a clearance of approximately one wing length from its near edge. Brightness cues therefore affect how zebra finches structure their flight when negotiating gaps in enclosed environments.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-23T08:27:12Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:c2246af7-ffe1-4c1e-97e4-7e1506168fc8 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:22:38Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Royal Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:c2246af7-ffe1-4c1e-97e4-7e1506168fc82024-08-14T20:03:56ZBrightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in zebra finches flying between perchesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c2246af7-ffe1-4c1e-97e4-7e1506168fc8EnglishSymplectic ElementsRoyal Society2024Borsier, ESanders, HTaylor, GFlying animals have had to evolve robust and effective guidance strategies for dealing with habitat clutter. Birds and insects use optic flow expansion cues to sense and avoid obstacles, but orchid bees have also been shown to use brightness cues during gap negotiation. Such brightness cues might therefore be of general importance in structuring visually guided flight behaviours. To test the hypothesis that brightness cues also affect gap negotiation behaviours in birds, we presented captive zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata with a symmetric or asymmetric background brightness distribution on the other side of a tunnel. The background brightness conditions influenced both the birds’ decision to enter the tunnel aperture, and their flight direction upon exit. Zebra finches were more likely to initiate flight through the tunnel if they could see a bright background through it; they were also more likely to fly to the bright side upon exiting. We found no evidence of the centring response that would be expected if optic flow cues were balanced bilaterally during gap negotiation. Instead, the birds entered the tunnel by targeting a clearance of approximately one wing length from its near edge. Brightness cues therefore affect how zebra finches structure their flight when negotiating gaps in enclosed environments. |
| spellingShingle | Borsier, E Sanders, H Taylor, G Brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in zebra finches flying between perches |
| title | Brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in zebra finches flying between perches |
| title_full | Brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in zebra finches flying between perches |
| title_fullStr | Brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in zebra finches flying between perches |
| title_full_unstemmed | Brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in zebra finches flying between perches |
| title_short | Brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in zebra finches flying between perches |
| title_sort | brightness cues affect gap negotiation behaviours in zebra finches flying between perches |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT borsiere brightnesscuesaffectgapnegotiationbehavioursinzebrafinchesflyingbetweenperches AT sandersh brightnesscuesaffectgapnegotiationbehavioursinzebrafinchesflyingbetweenperches AT taylorg brightnesscuesaffectgapnegotiationbehavioursinzebrafinchesflyingbetweenperches |