title: Night-migratory garden warblers can orient with their magnetic compass using the left, the right or both eyes.
abstract: Several studies have suggested that the magnetic compass of birds is located only in the right eye. However, here we show that night-migrating garden warblers (Sylvia borin) are able to perform magnetic compass orientation with both eyes open, with only the left eye open and with only the right eye open. We did not observe any clear lateralization of magnetic compass orientation behaviour in this migratory songbird, and, therefore, it seems that the suggested all-or-none lateralization of magnetic compass orientation towards the right eye only cannot be generalized to all birds, and that the answer to the question of whether magnetic compass orientation in birds is lateralized is probably not as simple as suggested previously.
authors.affiliation: AG Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation, IBU, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine Maira
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hein
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zapka
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heyers
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kutzschbauch
authors.forename: Nils-Lasse
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mouritsen
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*