News Neuroscience

Hippocampus may help homing pigeons explore

When researchers remove the brain regions, birds fly straighter on early parts of journey home

FLYING ON AUTOPILOT  Like automatons, homing pigeons without hippocampi fly straight toward home early in their journey, a new study finds.

Giuseppe di Lieto

By Laura Sanders

- More than 2 years ago

Homing pigeons can find their own cozy loft from hundreds of kilometers away. A brain structure enables exploratory jaunts during the birds’ prodigious flights home, a new study suggests.