Dr Aleksandr Pakhomov

Not All Butterflies Are Monarchs: Compass Systems in the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), a European Diurnal Migrant (2025)
Preprint / Working Paper
Pakhomov, A., Shapoval, N., Shapoval, A., & Kishkinev, D. (2025). Not All Butterflies Are Monarchs: Compass Systems in the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), a European Diurnal Migrant

Seasonal migration in animals is a widespread and complex phenomenon, yet the mechanisms underlying orientation and navigation remain poorly understood in many taxa. While significant progress has been made in migratory birds, where multiple compass... Read More about Not All Butterflies Are Monarchs: Compass Systems in the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), a European Diurnal Migrant.

Migratory birds are able to choose the appropriate migratory direction under dim yellow narrowband light (2023)
Journal Article
Romanova, N., Utvenko, G., Prokshina, A., Cellarius, F., Fedorishcheva, A., & Pakhomov, A. (2023). Migratory birds are able to choose the appropriate migratory direction under dim yellow narrowband light. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290(2013), https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2499

Currently, it is generally assumed that migratory birds are oriented in the appropriate migratory direction under UV, blue and green light (short-wavelength) and are unable to use their magnetic compass in total darkness and under yellow and red ligh... Read More about Migratory birds are able to choose the appropriate migratory direction under dim yellow narrowband light.

Oscillating magnetic field does not disrupt orientation in the presence of stellar cues in an avian migrant (2023)
Journal Article
Bojarinova, J., Kavokin, K., Fedorishcheva, A., Sannikov, D., Cherbunin, R., Pakhomov, A., & Chernetsov, N. (2024). Oscillating magnetic field does not disrupt orientation in the presence of stellar cues in an avian migrant. Journal of Ornithology, 165(2), 347-354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-023-02129-w

Weak oscillating magnetic fields (OMF) in the radiofrequency range are known to disrupt the orientation of birds. However, until now, it has not been experimentally verified that the sensitivity to OMF is a characteristic feature specifically of the... Read More about Oscillating magnetic field does not disrupt orientation in the presence of stellar cues in an avian migrant.

Orientation tests and long-term movement phenology establish the red admiral Vanessa atalanta as an applicable model for navigation research in migratory butterflies (2023)
Preprint / Working Paper
Pakhomov, A., Jansons, R., Shapoval, N., Cellarius, F., Shapoval, A., & Lindecke, O. Orientation tests and long-term movement phenology establish the red admiral Vanessa atalanta as an applicable model for navigation research in migratory butterflies

Animal migrations are disappearing globally, while insect populations are on alarming declines. Both ecosystem degradations, influenced by unpredictable impacts of climate change, are also exacerbated by human activities such as intensified land use... Read More about Orientation tests and long-term movement phenology establish the red admiral Vanessa atalanta as an applicable model for navigation research in migratory butterflies.

Birds are easier to trick: an effect of magnetic field manipulation on migratory orientation of Nathusius’ pipistrelle in the circular release box (2023)
Preprint / Working Paper
Cellarius, F., Utvenko, G., Markovets, M., & Pakhomov, A. Birds are easier to trick: an effect of magnetic field manipulation on migratory orientation of Nathusius’ pipistrelle in the circular release box

Bats, like birds, are capable of long annual migrations; however, a very limited number of studies are devoted to the role of the Earth’s magnetic field in bat navigation. We aimed to perform a series of experiments on Nathusius’ pipistrelle (Pipistr... Read More about Birds are easier to trick: an effect of magnetic field manipulation on migratory orientation of Nathusius’ pipistrelle in the circular release box.

Sensitivity threshold of avian magnetic compass to oscillating magnetic field is species-specific (2022)
Journal Article
Bojarinova, J., Kavokin, K., Cherbunin, R., Sannikov, D., Fedorishcheva, A., Pakhomov, A., & Chernetsov, N. (2023). Sensitivity threshold of avian magnetic compass to oscillating magnetic field is species-specific. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 77(1), https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03282-7

One of the most unusual features of the avian magnetic compass is its sensitivity to weak oscillating magnetic fields (OMF) in the radiofrequency range. This effect, observed earlier in numerous experiments in European robins Erithacus rubecula and g... Read More about Sensitivity threshold of avian magnetic compass to oscillating magnetic field is species-specific.

Access to the sky near the horizon and stars does not play a crucial role in compass calibration of European songbird migrants (2022)
Journal Article
Pakhomov, A., Prokshina, A., Cellarius, F., Mouritsen, H., & Chernetsov, N. (2022). Access to the sky near the horizon and stars does not play a crucial role in compass calibration of European songbird migrants. Journal of Experimental Biology, 225(16), https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.243631

Migratory birds use different global cues including celestial and magnetic information to determine and maintain their seasonally appropriate migratory direction. A hierarchy among different compass systems in songbird migrants is still a matter for... Read More about Access to the sky near the horizon and stars does not play a crucial role in compass calibration of European songbird migrants.

Ontogeny of the star compass in birds: pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) can establish the star compass in spring (2021)
Journal Article
Zolotareva, A., Utvenko, G., Romanova, N., Pakhomov, A., & Chernetsov, N. (2021). Ontogeny of the star compass in birds: pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) can establish the star compass in spring. Journal of Experimental Biology, 224(3), https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.237875

The star compass of birds, like the sun compass, is not innate. To possess either of them, birds have to observe the rotating sky and determine its centre of rotation (in the case of the star compass) or the sun's movement (for the sun compass). Youn... Read More about Ontogeny of the star compass in birds: pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) can establish the star compass in spring.

A hierarchy of compass systems in migratory birds (2020)
Journal Article
Pakhomov, A., & Chernetsov, N. (2020). A hierarchy of compass systems in migratory birds. Vestnik Sankt Peterburgskogo Universiteta. Seriya 1. Matematika, Mechanika, Astronomiya / Vestnik St. Petersburg University: Mathematics, 65(3), 7-9. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2020.306

Migratory birds use several different sources of orientation information. They have at least three compass systems based on different cues: the sun and polarized light, the stars and their constellations, and the geomagnetic field. The concurrent inf... Read More about A hierarchy of compass systems in migratory birds.

No evidence for the use of magnetic declination for migratory navigation in two songbird species (2020)
Journal Article
Chernetsov, N., Pakhomov, A., Davydov, A., Cellarius, F., & Mouritsen, H. (2020). No evidence for the use of magnetic declination for migratory navigation in two songbird species. PloS one, 15(4), e0232136. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232136

Determining the East-West position was a classical problem in human sea navigation until accurate clocks were manufactured and sailors were able to measure the difference between local time and a fixed reference to determine longitude. Experienced ni... Read More about No evidence for the use of magnetic declination for migratory navigation in two songbird species.

Magnetic compass of garden warblers is not affected by oscillating magnetic fields applied to their eyes (2020)
Journal Article
Bojarinova, J., Kavokin, K., Pakhomov, A., Cherbunin, R., Anashina, A., Erokhina, M., Ershova, M., & Chernetsov, N. (2020). Magnetic compass of garden warblers is not affected by oscillating magnetic fields applied to their eyes. Scientific reports, 10(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60383-x

The magnetic compass is an important element of the avian navigation system, which allows migratory birds to solve complex tasks of moving between distant breeding and wintering locations. The photochemical magnetoreception in the eye is believed to... Read More about Magnetic compass of garden warblers is not affected by oscillating magnetic fields applied to their eyes.

Magnetic map navigation in a migratory songbird requires trigeminal input (2018)
Journal Article
Pakhomov, A., Anashina, A., Heyers, D., Kobylkov, D., Mouritsen, H., & Chernetsov, N. (2018). Magnetic map navigation in a migratory songbird requires trigeminal input. Scientific reports, 8(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30477-8

Recently, virtual magnetic displacement experiments have shown that magnetic cues are indeed important for determining position in migratory birds; but which sensory system(s) do they use to detect the magnetic map cues? Here, we show that Eurasian r... Read More about Magnetic map navigation in a migratory songbird requires trigeminal input.

Dr Aleksandr Pakhomov's Outputs (13)