Homing Pigeons Get Neurologgers

It is a wonder that homing pigeons are able to carry messages to the right recipient over the centuries, covering hundreds of kilometers in a single journey. Vyssotski, a research fellow at Zurich University’s Institute of Neuroinformatics, wants to know how this is done by developing a device known as the neurologger. This simple device tips the scales at just two grams, where it will hold an electroencephalograph (EEG) to record all electrical activity in that bird brain, alongside the help of a fitted GPS system in order to find out what makes the homing pigeon tick. Results show that middle and high frequency brain waves correlate with the animal behavior better, especially when the birds approached the coastline.