Migrating Songbirds Recalibrate Their Magnetic Compass Daily from Twilight Cues

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[edit] Author(s)

  • Cochran, W. W.
  • Mouritsen, H.
  • Wikelski, M.

[edit] Journal

Science 304.5669 (2004): 405-08.

[edit] Keywords

celestial cues skylight polarization passerina-cyanea european robins orientation bird sunset dusk calibration information

[edit] Abstract

Night migratory songbirds can use stars, sun, geomagnetic field, and polarized light for orientation when tested in captivity. We studied the interaction of magnetic, stellar, and twilight orientation cues in free-flying songbirds. We exposed Catharus thrushes to eastward-turned magnetic fields during the twilight period before takeoff and then followed them for up to 1100 kilometers. Instead of heading north, experimental birds flew westward. On subsequent nights, the same individuals migrated northward again. We suggest that birds orient with a magnetic compass calibrated daily from twilight cues. This could explain how birds cross the magnetic equator and deal with declination.

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