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Evidence for olfactory search in wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans

Gabrielle A. Nevitt^*,,, Marcel Losekoot^,, and Henri Weimerskirch^¶

*Section of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior and Department of Avian Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, 2099 Westside Road, Bodega Bay, CA 94923; and ^¶Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France

View larger version (31K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Examples of tracks for each of the flown approach types for direct (A), turn (B), zigzag (C), and circle (D) approach types. Each diagram shows wind and flight direction as well as the horizontal and vertical distances represented by the smallest grid rectangle.

View larger version (28K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Circular histogram plots of approach bearing relative to wind direction for direct (A), turn/zigzag (B), circle (C), and water (D) approaches. Plots are normalized such that upwind is zero degrees for each graph. Turn and zigzag approaches were significantly oriented upwind whereas, water approaches [sit-and-wait approaches (28)] were significantly oriented downwind. Direct approaches were bimodally distributed, and circle approaches were uniformly distributed with respect to wind direction (see text).

View larger version (20K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Evidence for long-range olfactory detection. Sample track illustrating upwind flight after a series of sit-and-wait feeding events. The bird took off and meandered upwind for 20 km before touching down again to feed repeatedly on the water at a hotspot. Open circles indicate feeding events. Arrows refer to flight and wind direction as indicated. Note that wind direction shifted by 5° over the course of the bird's flight. The horizontal and vertical distances represented by the smallest grid rectangle are shown in the lower right corner.

View larger version (24K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Summary of relative use of different in-flight approach types with respect to total prey mass (A) and total number of prey items captured (B). Total prey mass = 44,102 g; total number of prey items captured = 153 for all tracks.

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