Migration and orientation by stars.
Indigo buntings migrate mostly at night.
- A test cage with an ink pad at the bottom and an open top
that allows the bird to see the night sky.
- A top view of the cage shows that movement of the bird can be recorded as the bird tries to hop out of the cage.
- The left footprints show a bunting in spring (when it orients north).
The middle footprints show a bunting in fall (when it orients south)
The right footprints show a bunting on cloudy nights when stars are obscured.
Experiments in a planetarium show that indigo buntings orient themselves using patterns of stars around the
North Star.