Bird Navigation

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.

Our co-editor Antonio Nafarrate has recently written these remarks 

Following the 2016 Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN) Conference on “Animal Navigation”, Dr. Painter claims that after some 50 years of work, the Magnetic “mechanism is not fully understood”. In my judgment, it will never be, because there is no such mechanism. The Geomagnetic Field (GMF) is only a minor perturbation to the true navigational…

Mathematical analysis of the homing flights of pigeons based on GPS tracks

Ingo Schiffner At the RIN 11 Animal Navigation Conference Ingo Schiffner, presented a paper: Mathematical Analysis of Pigeon Tracks, characterisation of the underlying Navigational Process and now he has produced another paper covering Mathematical analysis of the homing fights of pigeons based on GPS tracks.  For me,  this work begins to create an underlying mathematical basis…

Cuckoo Migration

Cuckoo Migration is one of the great mysteries and to date there is still no agreement on how Cuckoos find their way to the Congo for the winter starting from different locations in Europe.   The team at Copenhagen University under Prof Kasper Thorup have been  able to tag fledgling cuckoos to follow their migration….

Long-Distance Nocturnal Navigator

Warrant11 2016 Here is a fascinating paper about The Australian Bogong Moth Agrotis infusa: which is the most amazing  Long-Distance Nocturnal Navigator.  As they navigate at night their feat is perhaps even more amazing than the migration of the Monarch butterfly in the USA. Richard Nissen editor Warrant E, Frost B, Green K, Mouritsen H, Dreyer D, Adden A, Brauburger K and Heinze S (2016) The Australian…

Migration observation

I love this little observation by James Mather… “I was on a ladder clearing the gutters end of last week, and over a period of hours heard a number of flocks of birds gathering to migrate, and I could see them heading off in V-formation. Then, at one point, low cloud closed in, but I…