Study
Inheritance of migratory direction in a bird species: a cross-breeding experiment with SE- and SW-migrating blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla)
Helbig, Andreas J.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1991
Blackcaps from a population migrating south-west and one migrating south-east were cross-bred, and the hand-raised hybrids tested for orientation direction in cages.
- Studied in
- Sylvia atricapilla
- Sample size
- hand-raised hybrids of two populations, tested in orientation cages
Hybrids oriented intermediately between the parental directions rather than adopting one of them.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Migratory direction is inherited as a quantitative trait rather than as a switch between discrete routes.
How NatureHQ reads it
The result that turns "the direction is inherited" from a slogan into something specific and testable. An intermediate heading is what you get if the trait is a continuously varying bearing, and it is also, in the wild, a heading that leads to the Alps — which is why the two populations are separated by a migratory divide.
- Cage orientation of hand-raised birds; the hybrids were not tracked on a real migration.
- One species, and a species unusual for how fast its migration has changed in historical time.
Cross-breeding two populations that fly in different directions
Is a migratory direction inherited — and if so, inherited as what?
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Springer journalsPublished in a Springer journal.
Checked against Crossref on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-09-03.