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1 Migratory songbirds carry an inherited capacity to migrate several thousand kilometers each year crossing continental landmasses and barriers between distant breeding sites and wintering areas. How individual songbirds manage with extreme precision to find their way is still largely unknown. The functional characteristics of biological compasses used by songbird migrants has mainly been investigated by recording the birds directed migratory activity in circular cages, so-called Emlen funnels. This method is 50 years old and has not received major updates over the past decades. The aim of this work was to compare the results from newly developed digital methods with the established manual methods to evaluate songbird migratory activity and orientation in circular cages. 2 We performed orientation experiments using the European robin (Erithacus rubecula) using modified Emlen funnels equipped with thermal paper and simultaneously recorded the songbird movements from above. We evaluated and compared the results obtained with five different methods. Two methods have been commonly used in songbirds orientation experiments; the other three methods were developed for this study and were based either on evaluation of the thermal paper using automated image analysis, or on the analysis of videos recorded during the experiment. 3 The methods used to evaluate scratches produced by the claws of birds on the thermal papers presented some differences compared with the video analyses. These differences were caused mainly by differences in scatter, as any movement of the bird along the sloping walls of the funnel was recorded on the thermal paper, whereas video evaluations allowed us to detect single takeoff attempts by the birds and to consider only this behavior in the orientation analyses. Using computer vision, we were also able to identify and separately evaluate different behaviors that were impossible to record by the thermal paper. 4 The traditional Emlen funnel is still t, Funding Agencies|Centre for Animal Movement Research (CAnMove) - Linnaeus grant from Swedish Research Council [349-2007-8690]; Lund University; Royal Swedish Physiographical Society; Swedish Research Council [621-2013-4361]; VR project VIDI [2012-4321]; Vinnova Industry Excellence Center LINK-SIC

1 Migratory songbirds carry an inherited capacity to migrate several thousand kilometers each year crossing continental landmasses and barriers between distant breeding sites and wintering areas. How individual songbirds manage with extreme precision to find their way is still largely unknown. The functional characteristics of biological compasses used by songbird migrants has mainly been investigated by recording the birds directed migratory activity in circular cages, so-called Emlen funnels. This method is 50 years old and has not received major updates over the past decades. The aim of this work was to compare the results from newly developed digital methods with the established manual methods to evaluate songbird migratory activity and orientation in circular cages. 2 We performed orientation experiments using the European robin (Erithacus rubecula) using modified Emlen funnels equipped with thermal paper and simultaneously recorded the songbird movements from above. We evaluated and compared the results obtained with five different methods. Two methods have been commonly used in songbirds orientation experiments; the other three methods were developed for this study and were based either on evaluation of the thermal paper using automated image analysis, or on the analysis of videos recorded during the experiment. 3 The methods used to evaluate scratches produced by the claws of birds on the thermal papers presented some differences compared with the video analyses. These differences were caused mainly by differences in scatter, as any movement of the bird along the sloping walls of the funnel was recorded on the thermal paper, whereas video evaluations allowed us to detect single takeoff attempts by the birds and to consider only this behavior in the orientation analyses. Using computer vision, we were also able to identify and separately evaluate different behaviors that were impossible to record by the thermal paper. 4 The traditional Emlen funnel is still t, Funding Agencies|Centre for Animal Movement Research (CAnMove) - Linnaeus grant from Swedish Research Council [349-2007-8690]; Lund University; Royal Swedish Physiographical Society; Swedish Research Council [621-2013-4361]; VR project VIDI [2012-4321]; Vinnova Industry Excellence Center LINK-SIC

1 Migratory songbirds carry an inherited capacity to migrate several thousand kilometers each year crossing continental landmasses and barriers between distant breeding sites and wintering areas. How individual songbirds manage with extreme precision to find their way is still largely unknown. The functional characteristics of biological compasses used by songbird migrants has mainly been investigated by recording the birds directed migratory activity in circular cages, so-called Emlen funnels. This method is 50 years old and has not received major updates over the past decades. The aim of this work was to compare the results from newly developed digital methods with the established manual methods to evaluate songbird migratory activity and orientation in circular cages. 2 We performed orientation experiments using the European robin (Erithacus rubecula) using modified Emlen funnels equipped with thermal paper and simultaneously recorded the songbird movements from above. We evaluated and compared the results obtained with five different methods. Two methods have been commonly used in songbirds orientation experiments; the other three methods were developed for this study and were based either on evaluation of the thermal paper using automated image analysis, or on the analysis of videos recorded during the experiment. 3 The methods used to evaluate scratches produced by the claws of birds on the thermal papers presented some differences compared with the video analyses. These differences were caused mainly by differences in scatter, as any movement of the bird along the sloping walls of the funnel was recorded on the thermal paper, whereas video evaluations allowed us to detect single takeoff attempts by the birds and to consider only this behavior in the orientation analyses. Using computer vision, we were also able to identify and separately evaluate different behaviors that were impossible to record by the thermal paper. 4 The traditional Emlen funnel is still t, Funding Agencies|Centre for Animal Movement Research (CAnMove) - Linnaeus grant from Swedish Research Council [349-2007-8690]; Lund University; Royal Swedish Physiographical Society; Swedish Research Council [621-2013-4361]; VR project VIDI [2012-4321]; Vinnova Industry Excellence Center LINK-SIC

1 Migratory songbirds carry an inherited capacity to migrate several thousand kilometers each year crossing continental landmasses and barriers between distant breeding sites and wintering areas. How individual songbirds manage with extreme precision to find their way is still largely unknown. The functional characteristics of biological compasses used by songbird migrants has mainly been investigated by recording the birds directed migratory activity in circular cages, so-called Emlen funnels. This method is 50 years old and has not received major updates over the past decades. The aim of this work was to compare the results from newly developed digital methods with the established manual methods to evaluate songbird migratory activity and orientation in circular cages. 2 We performed orientation experiments using the European robin (Erithacus rubecula) using modified Emlen funnels equipped with thermal paper and simultaneously recorded the songbird movements from above. We evaluated and compared the results obtained with five different methods. Two methods have been commonly used in songbirds orientation experiments; the other three methods were developed for this study and were based either on evaluation of the thermal paper using automated image analysis, or on the analysis of videos recorded during the experiment. 3 The methods used to evaluate scratches produced by the claws of birds on the thermal papers presented some differences compared with the video analyses. These differences were caused mainly by differences in scatter, as any movement of the bird along the sloping walls of the funnel was recorded on the thermal paper, whereas video evaluations allowed us to detect single takeoff attempts by the birds and to consider only this behavior in the orientation analyses. Using computer vision, we were also able to identify and separately evaluate different behaviors that were impossible to record by the thermal paper. 4 The traditional Emlen funnel is still t, Funding Agencies|Centre for Animal Movement Research (CAnMove) - Linnaeus grant from Swedish Research Council [349-2007-8690]; Lund University; Royal Swedish Physiographical Society; Swedish Research Council [621-2013-4361]; VR project VIDI [2012-4321]; Vinnova Industry Excellence Center LINK-SIC

1 Migratory songbirds carry an inherited capacity to migrate several thousand kilometers each year crossing continental landmasses and barriers between distant breeding sites and wintering areas. How individual songbirds manage with extreme precision to find their way is still largely unknown. The functional characteristics of biological compasses used by songbird migrants has mainly been investigated by recording the birds directed migratory activity in circular cages, so-called Emlen funnels. This method is 50 years old and has not received major updates over the past decades. The aim of this work was to compare the results from newly developed digital methods with the established manual methods to evaluate songbird migratory activity and orientation in circular cages. 2 We performed orientation experiments using the European robin (Erithacus rubecula) using modified Emlen funnels equipped with thermal paper and simultaneously recorded the songbird movements from above. We evaluated and compared the results obtained with five different methods. Two methods have been commonly used in songbirds orientation experiments; the other three methods were developed for this study and were based either on evaluation of the thermal paper using automated image analysis, or on the analysis of videos recorded during the experiment. 3 The methods used to evaluate scratches produced by the claws of birds on the thermal papers presented some differences compared with the video analyses. These differences were caused mainly by differences in scatter, as any movement of the bird along the sloping walls of the funnel was recorded on the thermal paper, whereas video evaluations allowed us to detect single takeoff attempts by the birds and to consider only this behavior in the orientation analyses. Using computer vision, we were also able to identify and separately evaluate different behaviors that were impossible to record by the thermal paper. 4 The traditional Emlen funnel is still t, Funding Agencies|Centre for Animal Movement Research (CAnMove) - Linnaeus grant from Swedish Research Council [349-2007-8690]; Lund University; Royal Swedish Physiographical Society; Swedish Research Council [621-2013-4361]; VR project VIDI [2012-4321]; Vinnova Industry Excellence Center LINK-SIC

Natural formation of organically bound chlorine is extensive in many environments. The enzymes associated with the formation of chlorinated organic matter are produced by a large variety of organisms. Little is known about the ecological role of the process, the key question being: why do microorganisms promote chlorination of organic matter? In a recent paper we discuss whether organic matter chlorination may be a result of antagonistic interactions among microorganisms. In the present paper we evaluate whether extracellular microbial formation of reactive chlorine may be used as a defence against oxygen stress, and we discuss whether this process is likely to contribute to the formation of chlorinated organic matter. Our analysis suggests that periodic exposure to elevated concentrations of reactive oxygen species is a common denominator among the multitude of organisms that are able to enzymatically catalyse formation of reactive chlorine. There is also some evidence suggesting that the production of such enzymes in algae and bacteria is induced by oxygen stress. The relative contribution from this process to the extensive formation of chlorinated organic matter in natural environments remains to be empirically assessed., Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council||Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada||Canada Foundation for Innovation