Comments on: Birds have built in magnetometer?

By: PaulR

PaulR — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I have a suspicion that the sense’s base value are set quickly after birth or puberty, before they fledge. Much in the same way that some migratory bird imprint the star pattern/chart.

Any reversal of Earth’s magnetic field would probably affect the adults rather than the year’s brood.

By: Karl Jones

Karl Jones — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Heaven help the birds if the Earth undergoes magnetic field reversal. Same again for animals having Ampullae of Lorenzini.

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Magnetic boogers?

By: phisrow

phisrow — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I, for one, am glad to know that my EMP doomsday weapon will be of some use in both avian and robot invasions.

By: Matt J

Matt J — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Since they have an inclination and intensity compass they’d be a bit confused for a while until they built a new magnetic map. The inclination and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field change all the time, albeit not as dramatically as they would if the field reversed.

By: Nadreck

Nadreck — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Adds new meaning to the phrase “just follow your nose!”

By: Tom Hale

Tom Hale — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

People have this too – some kind of magnetic thing in their nose – seriously. Whether it really help them with directions I’m not sure – I read about it years ago.

By: Felton

Felton — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Heh! I’ve always wondered why I have a good sense of direction. Maybe it’s because I’ve been blessed with a fairly large “magnet.”

By: justanotherusername

justanotherusername — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Why don’t they strap a powerful magnet to the birds head and find out if it can still get back home instead of speculating?

By: Tom Hale

Tom Hale — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What’s really weird, is I was just telling one of my sons about this about two hours ago. I finished saying, ‘I know that sounds like BS but it’s true.’

By: Gutierrez

Gutierrez — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ah yes, the Bird. Nature’s iPhone Touch 3GS. With built in magnetometer, global position system, ability to deliver messages long distance, reproduce elaborate songs. Parrot models even have voice recording apps. And I hear the chicken models can play game apps like tic-tac-toe.

Apple should be ashamed of ripping off nature so blatantly.

By: Matt J

Matt J — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

As the quote says, we always knew some birds could sense magnetic direction. That they can sense inclination and intensity is somewhat more novel, but I’ve found a few studies which showed this a while ago. Sea turtles and some other animals have also been shown to have this ability in several studies. Theoretically, they can use this to identify where they are, but only in certain parts of the world where the gradient of magnetic intensity runs perpendicular to the gradient of inclination. Inclination varies approximately north-south (with the magnetic field being parallel to the Earth’s surface at the equator and perpendicular at the poles) whereas intensity varies somewhat more randomly. Yes, I did just write an essay on this!

By: Matt J

Matt J — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

People have this too – some kind of magnetic thing in their nose – seriously. Whether it really help them with directions I’m not sure – I read about it years ago.

One study showed this. Many others have tried to repeat the results but failed.

By: SamSam

SamSam — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

As an occasional archeologist, I look forward to the day when I can wander around a site with a chicken under my arm, and plot out a fairly good diagram of the underground walls by the sounds of its clucks. Those modern magnetometers are so clunky.

@libelle: Are you sure that the research that you’re talking about is really about magnetometers (sensing variations in the directions of the fieldlines) and not just sensing magnetic North? The couple of articles I was able to pull up were on the latter. As others have said, we’ve known about North-seeking for a long time, but this magnetometer research sounds new.

@justanotherusername: How do you know they did’t? For example, here’s an article on the effects of subjecting the birds to a magnetic pulse designed to scramble the magnetoreceptors (if I understood it correctly).

By: libelle

libelle — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m surprised this is being published now. Back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, there were papers published on the topic. I’m not sure what this study brings which is new (except maybe the location of the magnetite in the beak, as opposed the the magnetite in the brain?)

Look up Lowenstam, Weiner, Kirschvink, and Margulis for fascinating stuff on magnetite, like the fact that chitons have iron-plated, magnetic teeth.