This link is important as it gives you more information on the work done by David Keays et al, which proved that the magnetite particle array supposed to exist in the upper beak, creates a magnetic compass response mechanism for birds, does not exist.
As this article suggests the other candidate for magnetic response is a quantum effect in the cryptochromes in the birds eyes.
Richard Nissen
Editor
Here is a link to Monarch Butterflies http://phys.org/tags/monarch+butterflies/ Editor’s remark I have difficulty understanding these results which suggest that Cryptrochromes are involved which I am fairly clear is impossible as there is not enough time for the quantum coherence to take place. Inclination compasses are very inaccurate as there can be huge changes locally due to…
Click here for Wikipedia’s explanation of the Arctic Tern.
You will find other descriptions here of Henri Weimerskirch’s work on Albatrosses under Albatrosses on this site as well as Anna Gagliardo’s work on the use of smell in navigation. A book recently written by Adam Nicholson called “The Seabirds Cry” is fascinating about the mythology and lives of the sea birds in his book;…
There was a recent article in the media, including the New Scientist and the Times about the migration of the Banded Stilt, which seems to migrate very fast at short notice. The recent interest has been triggered by work done at Deakin University in Victoria Australia by Reece Pedler. Banded Stilts normally live on the…
Our Editor Antonio Nafarrate has sent us this: Hello all and happy 2015. Please check enclosed forwarded video that is definite proof that birds have in their brains a Schuler tuned gyroscopically stabilized inertial platform. Best wishes from Antonio Nafarrate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dPlkFPowCc
There is a lot of work going on in the navigation field. All the researchers in this field are now clear that navigation takes place in the sub-conscious. I made the mistake of thinking that native peoples who seemed to navigate perfectly without any aids could tell me how they did it, but language is…