The existence of avian magnetic orientation has been proved by many experimental studies, however, evidence for the use of magnetic cues by homing pigeons remains controversial. To investigate magnetic orientation by homing pigeons, we analyzed the results of pigeon races relative to weak fluctuations in the geomagnetic field, assuming that such disturbances could impact navigational efficiency if based on magnetoreception. Whereas most of the previous studies recorded and analyzed vanishing bearing of individually released pigeons, we evaluated relative duration of the homeward flight (homing speed, as a proxy of navigational efficiency) and its dependence on specific geomagnetic indices in racing pigeons released collectively. Our analysis of orientation efficiency of about 289 pigeon races over 15 years suggested slight negative correlations between geomagnetic fluctuations and homing time. Although the interpretation of this finding is manifold and not clear, it suggests that natural magnetic variations or disturbances can affect the homing orientation performance of pigeons. We suggest that studying pigeon races may have a heuristic potential and since these races are regularly and frequently organized in many countries all over the globe, examining homing performance relative to a suite of environmental variables may be useful for exploring hypotheses about pigeon navigation.

Company Evžena Rošického 1062 3 721 00 Ostrava Svinov Czech Republic

Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Kamýcká 129 165 21 Prague 6 Czech Republic

Institute of Geonics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Studentská 1768 708 33 Ostrava Czech Republic

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