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.
Nature’s Radar a paper by Tristan Gooley (one of our heroes) published in the Journal of Navigation in October 2012. Tristan and a friend set out in a little boat to navigate from Kirkwall on the North of Ockney via the Faroes over the top of Iceland to Reykjavik. Please see http://www.naturalnavigator.com/nature’s_radar.pdf for the full paper. The…
In 1967 Eric Eastwood published a book called Radar Ornithology. Whilst research has moved on since then, this is a seminal book and gives really useful hard information on the migration habits of Passerines including thrushes, continental robins, warblers, starlings and woodcock. These birds make their migratory journeys to England in the autumn from the…
http://www.2physics.com/2012/10/avian-compass-reloaded.html Please find this interesting piece entitled The Avian Compass Reloaded by Dagomir Kaszlikowski at the Centre for Quantum Technologies, Department of Physics, National University of Singapore. Kaszlikowski talks about the the quantum effect that is required to enable the Cryptochromes in the eye of the European Robin to be sensitive to the earth’s magnetic field….
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21688-mystery-of-bird-navigation-system-still-unsolved.html We have always said that the work of our hero David Kaeys is critically important in demolishing the magnetite cluster in the beak theory. This theory proposed that the magnetite group acted as a compass which enabled birds to sense the magnetic field and therefore use this for navigation. I am delighted that other…
We know that cuckoos nest over winter in the Congo and breed in Europe. UK cuckoos arrive in the latter part of April and lay their eggs in another bird’s nest. The common host of cuckoos are Reed warblers, Meadow pipits and even non-migratory Robins. The juveniles a month later in May. The fledgling casts out the other…
Phenotypic response to environmental cues, orientation and migration costs in songbirds flying halfway around the world by Heiko Schmaljohann et al. A polar system of intercontinental bird migration by Prof Thomas Alerstam et al. Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird by Franz Bairlein et al. One of our heroes Prof Tomas Alerstam has directed us to this fascinating paper by Heiko…
http://safari-ecology.blogspot.fr/2012/03/migrant-bird-population-declines.html This web site gives us some real insight into the migratory habits of birds in Africa. Please follow the links too. We are fascinated in Wheatears as they like the Bar-tailed Godwit they breed in the Arctic and yet make a remarkable straight great circle flight alone to their wintering grounds in Africa. It is wonderful to have…