Category Archives: Animal Migration

Magnetoreception – the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field

Posted on 16 November 2020 by Richard Nissen

David Keays is one of the mega stars of animal navigation research and has spent a life time trying to work out how magnetism might work. Here is a summary of his latest work: Magnetoreception is the ability to sense … Continue reading →

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Eyes are essential for magnetoreception in a mammal

Posted on 9 October 2020 by Richard Nissen

Here is another interesting paper: Mole-rat lives underground and basically cannot see and is often studied to understand how they navigate. Caspar, K. R., Moldenhauer, K., Moritz, R. E., Němec, P., Malkemper, E. P. & Begall, S. 2020 Eyes are essential … Continue reading →

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Memories Can Be Injected and Survive Amputation and Metamorphosis

Posted on 6 July 2020 by Richard Nissen

There has always been huge uncertainty as to how migrating animals learn where to go.  The cuckoo is a perfect example, as the newly hatched birds must travel from Europe to The Congo Basin for the winter, but how do … Continue reading →

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The “V” formation of flying geese

Posted on 25 January 2020 by Richard Nissen

A recent piece of work by a team lead by A. . Kölzsch from Germany tracked a family of Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)  This goose is a great migrator and winters (December to February) in Western Europe where the … Continue reading →

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To cross or not to cross

Posted on 12 November 2019 by Richard Nissen

Recently Vera Brust, Bianca Michalik and Ommo Hüppop  have produced a paper called “To cross or not to cross – thrushes at the German North Sea coast adapt flight and routing to wind conditions in autumn”. They looked at some of the … Continue reading →

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COGNITIVE NAVIGATION SYMPOSIUM: SENSE OF DIRECTION

Posted on 8 September 2019 by Richard Nissen

Recently Prof Kate Jeffery, working with The Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN), gave a one day symposium at University College London. Themes• How animals orient – perspectives from ethology and neuroscience • How humans orient – perspectives from cognitive neuroscience • Helping … Continue reading →

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“Those who work dogs in the field seem to enjoy a closer, sometimes telepathic relationship with their charges that ’s obvious if you know what to look for. A good huntsman’s rapport with his pack – “the golden thread” – is much admired, but so are the feats of gundogs indispensable to every day’s shooting”.

Posted on 8 September 2019 by Richard Nissen

Country Life Magazine (UK) issue July 24th 2019 had an article entitled “Every dog has its day” Those who work closely with animals seem to have a very special relationship with them that may not agree well with established scientific … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Migration | Comments Off on “Those who work dogs in the field seem to enjoy a closer, sometimes telepathic relationship with their charges that ’s obvious if you know what to look for. A good huntsman’s rapport with his pack – “the golden thread” – is much admired, but so are the feats of gundogs indispensable to every day’s shooting”.