Bird navigation is a fascinating and intricate process that involves a variety of sensory and cognitive abilities. Discover the science behind how birds find their way during long-distance migrations, including the role of visual, magnetic, olfactory, and celestial cues. Learn about the amazing adaptations that birds have developed to navigate different environments and conditions, from Arctic tundra to tropical rainforests. Explore the practical applications of bird navigation research, including conservation, aviation, and robotics. Discover our resources and expert insights on bird navigation and expand your understanding of one of the most extraordinary abilities in the animal kingdom.
This paper is difficult to understand but it summarises the work on animal navigation to date. The key is that all the research which is confident that animals navigate using magnetic cues are not necessarily the whole story and that all navigators use all the clues they can get to help them. Recently there was…
Atchoi, E., Mitkus, M., Vitta, P., Machado, B., Rocha, M., Juliano, M., Bried, J. & Rodríguez, A. 2023 Ontogenetic exposure to light influences seabird vulnerability to light pollution. Journal of Experimental Biology 226. doi: 10.1242/jeb.245126. Atchoi 2023 (no pdf) Light pollution critically affects the fledglings of burrow-nesting seabirds, leading to massive mortality events. The successful management of this pollutant depends…
While advances in biologging have revealed many spectacular animal migrations, it remains poorly understood how young animals learn to migrate. Even in social species, it is unclear how migratory skills are transmitted from one generation to another and what implications this may have. Here we show that in Caspian terns Hydroprogne caspia family groups, genetic and foster…
This paper on olfactory landmarks is interesting as it covers the idea that the distinctive smell of a place can help navigation by creating a new landmark for helping an animal navigate. The recognition of a spatial landmark by its sensory features poses a problem for neural circuits. Fischler-Ruiz, et al. show how this problem…
In this paper you find a rather fascinating overview of the migration of Birds. Malik, Y. S., Arun Prince Milton, A., Ghatak, S. & Ghosh, S. 2021 Adaptation and Evolution of Bird Migration. In Role of Birds in Transmitting Zoonotic Pathogens, pp. 3-14. Singapore Springer Singapore. Malik 2021
A recent paper called “Modelling collective navigation via non-local communication”has been published by S. T. Johnston(1) and K. J. Painter(2). They tell us that a group of individuals produce better navigational results thanindividuals which is why flocks of birds are more efficient than a solo migrant. TheRAF confirms this where they have found that a…
This link gives you a very good overview of the latest arguments about whether Cryptochromes, which are sensitive to magnetic fields and exist in the eyes of birds, help with their navigation. All the great and good involved in this field are quoted. I personally do not think that the quantum effects in a Cryptochrome…
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