Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Clues to how birds migrate using Earth's magnetic field
You may wonder how birds fly a long distance without visual references to the ground or water. In fact, some birds migrate thousands of kilometers over the sea, where they can only see nothing but water. It is known that birds, sea turtles, fish, and insects sense the Earth's magnetic field to find their way. But it had not been found how and which part of their body navigate their way. Recently, scientists discovered that birds have some chemicals in the eye that senses magnetism. They observed chemical reactions in birds’ retinas that seem to give the bird information about the direction of the magnetic field, just like a compass that tells your which direction is north or south. More researches are needed to find what works exactly how, but which part should be researched has been found to solve the mystery. Now we know that the functions of the eyes aren’t limited to see things visually.
Enjoy reading the article and learn about this landmark discovery to find how birds navigate themselves to reach their destination.
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