Homing Pigeon Wingbeat and GPS Data for Route Familiarity Study

Featuring GPS and accelerometer data from 21 homing pigeons (Columba livia) released 20 times each from distances of 3.85 km or 7.06 km from home. It was collected by Lucy A. Taylor to investigate how wingbeat characteristics and airspeed change as birds learn a homing route. The data includes measurements of route efficiency, wingbeat frequency, and wingbeat amplitude.

Use Cases

• Analyze the correlation between route efficiency and median peak-to-peak dorsal body acceleration across repeated releases.
• Model changes in airspeed as a function of wingbeat frequency and wingbeat amplitude during route learning.
• Investigate the relationship between wind support and wingbeat frequency using GPS and accelerometer data.
• Compare flight characteristics like wingbeat frequency and airspeed between the 3.85 km and 7.06 km release distances.

Strengths

• Data from 21 individual birds, each released 20 times, providing repeated measures.
• Includes high-frequency sensor data from 5 Hz GPS trackers and 200 Hz tri-axial accelerometers.
• Explicitly measures multiple flight characteristics: route efficiency, wingbeat frequency, wingbeat amplitude, and airspeed.

Limitations

• Sample size is limited to 21 pigeons, which may restrict statistical power for complex models.
• Geographic scope is limited to specific release points (3.85 km and 7.06 km from a single home location).
• The dataset's temporal coverage and specific file formats are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Dryad digital repository.

Collection Method

Data gathered from 21 homing pigeons equipped with 5 Hz GPS trackers and 200 Hz tri-axial accelerometers, released individually 20 times from set distances.

Freshness

Data was last updated in June 2020.

Geography

Release points 3.85 km and 7.06 km from a home loft (specific location not provided).