A researcher raised a group of control birds and a group of experimental birds in different environmental conditions. The control group of birds was raised in natural enclosures with actual day/night patterns for the season. The experimental group of birds was raised in an indoor enclosure where the day/night cycle was shifted by 12 hours. If members from each group were released just before their typical southern winter migration, where would you expect the experimental population of birds to fly in respect to the control populations?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Birds use a variety of environmental cues including the length of daylight to determine when and where to migrate. Since the experimental group was raised in an environment with a shifted day/night cycle, they would have received conflicting cues about when to migrate. Therefore, they may not migrate at the appropriate time or in the appropriate direction. Since the experimental group was raised in an indoor environment, they would not have had any cues about the actual direction of south. Therefore, it is possible that they could travel in the opposite direction, which would be 180° to the north.

A Researcher Raised a Group of Control Birds and a Group