Magnetoreception of directional information in birds requires nondegraded vision

Abstract

The magnetic compass orientation of birds is light dependent. The respective directional information, originating in radical pair processes, is mediated by the right eye. These findings suggest possible interactions between magnetoreception and vision, in particular with the perception of contours, because the right eye has been found to be dominant in discrimination tasks requiring object vision. Here we report tests in the local geomagnetic field with European robins wearing goggles equipped with a clear and a frosted foil of equal translucence of 70%. Robins with a clear foil on the right eye and a frosted foil on the left eye oriented in the migratory direction as well as birds using both eyes. Birds with a frosted foil that blurred vision on the right eye and a clear foil on the left eye, in contrast, were disoriented. These findings are the first to show that avian magnetoreception requires, in addition to light, a nondegraded image formation along the projectional streams of the right retina. This suggests crucial interactions between the processing of visual pattern information and the conversion of magnetic input into directional information.