U.S.-Italy Cooperative Research:  Avian Orientation; Use    of Olfactory Cues
{'Code': '01090000', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'O/D', 'LongName': 'Office Of The Director'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'OISE', 'LongName': 'Office Of Internatl Science &Engineering'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Harold Stolberg', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
This award will support collaborative work between Prof. Charles                Walcott of Cornell University and Prof. Floriano Papi of the                    University of Pisa, Italy.  The investigators intend to investigate             the roles that geomagnetic and olfactory cues play in avian                     orientation.  It is well-known that homing pigeons can return to                their lofts when released hundreds of miles away in unfamiliar                  territory.  While it is generally agreed that they can use the sun              or the earth's magnetic field as a compass reference, no agreement              has been reached on the sensory basis of their ability to determine             their position relative to home.  The Italian investigators report              that their birds use odors to find their way; however, some                     experiments in both Germany and the U.S. suggest that pigeons there             can orient without olfactory information.  It may be that the cues              birds use depend on the environment in which they are raised or,                perhaps, on their own genetic stock.  To examine these hypotheses,              the investigators plan to establish a pigeon loft in Florida where              the general topography is similar to that of Pisa, Italy, and test              whether Italian and U.S. birds will make use of olfactory cues in               Florida.                                                                                                                                                        If pigeons in different places use different cues for navigation,               it means that their navigational system is much more complex than               had been thought.  It would also suggest that other animals might               have similar flexibility in their use of different cues and that                some of the differences in bird orientation behavior reported in                the literature may reflect environmental differences.  In any case,             the proposed work should be of great value in helping to resolve                the scientific controversy over the role of olfactory cues in the               homing orientation of pigeons.
{'FirstName': 'Charles', 'LastName': 'Walcott', 'PI_MID_INIT': None, 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Charles Walcott', 'EmailAddress': 'cw38@cornell.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000102121', 'StartDate': '12/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'Cornell University', 'CityName': 'ITHACA', 'ZipCode': '148502820', 'PhoneNumber': '6072555014', 'StreetAddress': '341 PINE TREE RD', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'New York', 'StateCode': 'NY', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '23', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'NY23', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'G56PUALJ3KT5', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'CORNELL UNIVERSITY', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
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{'Code': '5920', 'Text': 'ITALY'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8814911.xml'}