RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Attack behaviour in naïve Gyrfalcons is modelled by the same guidance law as in Peregrines, but at a lower guidance gain
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.10.06.328260
DO 10.1101/2020.10.06.328260
A1 Caroline H. Brighton
A1 Katherine E. Chapman
A1 Nicholas C. Fox
A1 Graham K. Taylor
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/10/13/2020.10.06.328260.abstract
AB The aerial hunting behaviours of birds are strongly influenced by their flight morphology and ecology, but little is known of how this variation relates to the behavioural algorithms guiding flight. Here we use onboard GPS loggers to record the attack trajectories of captive-bred Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) during their maiden flights against robotic aerial targets, which we compare to existing flight data from Peregrines (Falco peregrinus) The attack trajectories of both species are modelled most economically by a proportional navigation guidance law, which commands turning in proportion to the angular rate of the line-of-sight to target, at a guidance gain N. However, Gyrfalcons operate at significantly lower values of N than Peregrines, producing slower turning and a longer path to intercept. Gyrfalcons are less agile and less manoeuvrable than Peregrines, but this physical constraint is insufficient to explain their lower guidance gain. On the other hand, lower values of N promote the tail-chasing behaviour that is typical of wild Gyrfalcons, and which apparently serves to tire their prey in a prolonged high-speed pursuit. Moreover, during close pursuit of fast evasive prey such as Ptarmigan (Lagopus spp.), proportional navigation will be less prone to being thrown off by erratic target manoeuvres if N is low. The fact that low-gain proportional navigation successfully models the maiden attack flights of Gyrfalcons suggests that this behavioural algorithm is embedded in a hardwired guidance loop, which we hypothesise is ancestral to the clade containing Gyrfalcons and Peregrines.SUMMARY STATEMENT Naïve Gyrfalcons attacking aerial targets are modelled by the same proportional navigation guidance law as Peregrines, but with a lower navigation constant that promotes tail-chasing rather than efficient interception.Competing Interest StatementCB, KC and GT declare no competing interests. NF is CEO of Wingbeat Ltd, which supplied and piloted the Roprey in this study.