Incredible Birds’ journey with nature
In the world where humans often forget to observe natural signs and depend on devices such as watches to know time, a compass or GPS to know direction, and satellites to predict weather, in the same world, some animals are making their life's journey by entirely relying on nature and their senses. One of those animals is the great birds.
Natures role in birds navigation
Birds’ migration is mostly immersed in nature. From the Arctic tern, which travels approximately 90,000km each year, to the Blue grouse, which migrates around 300 meters for survival, all the birds are closely dependent on natural cues during migration. Let us understand how nature plays a major role in this journey.
Sun:
The Sun plays a key role in birds’ migration. The sun’s position in the sky helps birds navigate and determine the direction during their journey. Sunlight also regulates the birds’ internal biological clock, which helps them understand the time of day and adjust their navigation accordingly. Birds detect seasonal changes based on the duration of daylight and darkness in a day and automatically prepare for long migrations that are essential for their survival.
Stars:
Nocturnal birds migrate at night by identifying the central point around which the night sky appears to rotate. In the northern hemisphere, birds use the star located close to this central point, commonly known as Polaris or the north star, along with surrounding star patterns for navigation. By recognizing these rotational patterns in the night sky, they determine direction and maintain their migratory route.
Earth's magnetic field:
Birds are believed to sense Earth’s magnetic field. Their eyes contain light-sensitive proteins called cryptochromes in the retina. These proteins consist of molecules such as flavin adenine dinucleotide and the amino acid tryptophan. These two molecules remain in a neutral state under normal conditions; however, when a blue light strikes these molecules, electron transfer occurs between the molecules, and makes the electron pair with linked spin states. Earth’s magnetic field slightly influences these spin states and changes the chemical reactions in cryptochrome. Birds detect these changes and form visual patterns in their brains, which help them in navigation.
Studies also suggest that birds’ beaks may contain ferromagnetic-like particles, possibly made of magnetite, which can be influenced by Earth’s magnetic field.
Wind:
Wind helps birds travel thousands of miles while using less energy, and favorable winds make the birds’ flight faster and more efficient. Wind also carries the environmental odours over long distances. Birds’ olfactory senses allow them to identify these odors, which helps them to identify locations because different locations have distinct vegetations and environmental smells.
Smell becomes especially important during longer migrations where there are few visual cues to guide birds, especially when they are traveling over the oceans or large water bodies. Some birds, such as the kiwi and the Turkey vulture, have a highly developed sense of smell that helps them to locate food from long distances.
Even though human activities such as skyscrapers and light pollution are interrupting the natural signs required for bird migration, birds continue to complete their incredible journeys across the world using nature’s guidance systems.
Long live Avians *
