Pigeons found to navigate using magnetic fields
Image - Albert Bridge
New research undertaken by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and published in the most recent Science Express has demonstrated that pigeons navigate using a sensitivity to the Earth's magnetic field. It has also been speculated that the researcher's findings could apply to other birds, bacteria, fish, honeybees, turtles and possibly some mammals as well.
“We have found cells in the (pigeon) brain that signal the direction, intensity and polarity of an applied magnetic field,” explained research co-author David Dickman. “These three qualities can be used by the brain to compute heading information, like a compass, and latitude on the Earth surface (location between the magnetic North and South Poles). It is possible that magnetic intensity could also be used to give the bird longitude (East-West location) through learned associations of differing regional variations along the Earth surface... Together, these cells could form the basis of determining heading direction and position according to a brain representation of a magnetic Earth surface map.”
The research has been applauded by the scientific community, with Professor Kenneth Lohmann of the University of North Carolina calling the study “the most thorough investigation of the magnetic sense so far, in terms of neurobiological approaches, and it will no doubt inspire much additional work in the future.”
BSAVA is to partner with BVA Live (11-12 June 2026) to champion clinical research.
