Built-in GPS for Bird Navigation

While it is interesting to talk about birds in this area, there are plenty of other avians to discuss. The Common (or Eurasian) Reed Warbler is something this child will never see. It likes to warble on reeds and nest in them. They breed in Europe and some of Asia, then migrate to parts of Africa for the winter. Some are year-round Africans.

Bird migration is fascinating. It is known that they use Earth's magnetic field for navigation, but it is more than going in a particular direction.

Eurasian Reed Warbler, Flickr / Ron Knight (CC BY 2.0)

The magnetic field provides a great deal of information, and their built-in Global Positioning System uses it. Migratory birds like the Common Reed Warbler can determine where they are, the direction they need to go, and how far. Researchers caught some and put them in "orientation cages" where they were effectively reprogrammed to believe they were in a different place. When they flew, they ignored visual cues.

Even though the birds has their systems hacked (at least for a while), they use what the Master Engineer has given them. The research paper did not give credit to evolution (nor did it credit the Creator), but this does show once again that Darwin need not be praised in scientific research.

Now an international team of researchers in Austria has advanced our knowledge with ingenious experiments with reed warblers.

The earth’s magnetic field is best known for providing a compass direction. But a direction alone is not always enough. How far along in the required direction does the bird need to go? In reality, the magnetic field has more information. . . .

To read the full article, fly over to "Migratory birds use magnetic GPS."