• UGI USER
  • Jan 25, 2024
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AVIAN NAVIGATION UNVEILED: HOW BIRDS FIND HOME

Focus: Avian Navigation

About Avian Navigation:

 Navigation Theories:

  • The sun’s rays and wind direction, coupled with birds’ extrasensory capabilities, are theorized to aid navigation by aligning with the earth’s magnetic field.
  • Another theory proposes that birds ‘read’ star-maps for navigation, yet a definitive answer remains elusive.

Environmental Cues:

  • Birds exhibit the ability to detect atmospheric pressure, weather changes, and the earth’s magnetic field.
  • An internal magnetic compass in their brains is a crucial navigational tool, aligning with the earth’s magnetic field and converting magnetic currents into flight paths.

Impact of Magnetic Disturbances:

  • Disturbances in the earth’s magnetic field, as demonstrated in a case with homing pigeons in 1988, can severely affect birds’ navigation.
  • An explosion on the sun disrupted the magnetic field, causing confusion in the internal magnetic compass and leading the pigeons off course during their return journey from France to England.
Source: ResearchGate
About Bird Flyways in India

·    India hosts crucial bird flyways, essential migratory routes for birds.

·    The Central Asian Flyway, East Asian-Australasian Flyway, and the West Asian-East African Flyway intersect, making India a vital stop for millions of migratory birds travelling between breeding and wintering grounds.