Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
06:14
A Method for Investigating Change Blindness in Pigeons (Columba Livia)
Published on: September 7, 2018
Pigeons lock their eyes in place during flight
Ivo G Ros1, Partha S Bhagavatula2, Andrew A Biewener2
1Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Current Biology : CB
|June 17, 2026
Summary
Pigeons actively stabilize their eye position during flight, locking their gaze. This consistent eye alignment with the vestibular system may enhance self-motion perception in flying animals.
Area of Science:
- Comparative physiology
- Neuroscience
- Animal behavior
Background:
- Most animals use a fixate-and-saccade pattern for vision.
- Birds exhibit rapid gaze shifts via head and eye movements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate eye movement control in flying pigeons.
- To determine if pigeons maintain a stable eye position during flight.
- To explore the relationship between eye position, head movement, and vestibular input.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a head-mounted eye-tracking system on flying pigeons.
- Recorded eye position relative to the head during flight.
- Analyzed eye and head movement coordination.
Main Results:
- Pigeons increased pupil size post-takeoff and adopted a fixed eye position.
- Eye position remained consistently within 1° of a fixed point during flight across diverse visual environments.
- Eyes were positioned near the horizontal axes of the vestibular system.
Conclusions:
- Pigeons actively "lock" their eyes during flight, maintaining a stable gaze.
- This stable gaze likely aligns visual input with the vestibular system.
- Such alignment may facilitate the perception of self-motion during flight.
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