Bird Migration: How Do Birds Find Their Way?

It is normal for birds to move from one place to another, but how exactly do they navigate and why do they tend to migrate?

Bird Migration Explained

Birds typically transfer from regions with decreasing or low resources to areas with high or increasing resources. The primary resources that these creatures seek are nesting locations and food.

Creatures that dwell in the Northern Hemisphere typically move northward during spring in order to maximize the burgeoning populations of insects, budding plants, and nesting location abundance. When winter nears and insect and other food availability plummet, they transfer back to the south.

Though some bird species are motivated to escape the cold, there are certain species, such as hummingbirds, that have the capacity to withstand extremely low temperatures as long as they have an adequate food supply.

Migration generally covers large-scale and periodic movements of animal populations. There are short-distance, medium-distance, and long-distance migrants. This generally depends on the distance they travel.

What exactly triggers bird migration could depend and may remain largely mysterious. Migration could potentially be triggered by a mix of changes in lower temperatures, day length, food supply changes, and even genetic predisposition.

How Do Birds Find Their Way?

The exact mechanisms behind the exceptional navigation skills of birds are still not as comprehensive. This is partially due to how birds incorporate several senses when they find their way.

Birds are capable of getting compass data from the sun, stars, and even the magnetic field of the earth. They may also get insight from the setting sun's position as well as landmarks observed during the day. There is also proof that smell could play a role for homing pigeons.

There are also certain species that follow pathways that they prefer during their yearly migrations. These paths are mostly linked to crucial stopover locations that offer food that is critical to their survival. Smaller birds usually migrate in broad fronts through the landscape.

Interestingly, researchers have discovered that for pigeons specifically, there is a tiny spot on their beak that has magnetite, which is magnetized rock. This magnetite could serve as the homing pigeon's GPS for getting information regarding its location relative to the poles of the Earth. The birds' eyes have also been found to contain specialized cells that could aid with viewing magnetic fields.

It is believed that these birds are capable of using the magnetite and the eye sensors to traverse long distances in areas where landmarks are not plenty.

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