Boldness traits, not dominance, predict exploratory flight range and homing behaviour in homing pigeons

This study investigated whether consistent individual differences in behaviour (particularly exploratory tendency and object neophilia) were associated with the tendency to explore in free-ranging scenarios. This was tested in homing pigeons. The results showed that birds that were more likely to explore in the loft were also more likely to explore the local area during self-driven flights. When birds were released from a fixed release points, those which had explored less took more tortuous and longer routes back to the loft. This demonstrates the cost associated with lack of exploratory behaviour, and also links traits measured in laboratory scenarios to behaviour in free-ranging animals