New research provides insight into birds' homing instinct

A robin.
(Image credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

New research suggests that birds have a secret weapon that helps their internal compass.

In two studies, one published last week in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface and the other published in January in Current Biology, scientists have identified a special protein in birds' eyes that may help them to "see" the magnetic field of the Earth as they fly.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Cry4 can also react to magnetic fields, thanks to quantum processes that occur on a microscopic level. "Birds use magnetic compasses any time of day or night" to find their way, said biologist Rachel Muheim, a co-author on one of the studies — so the fact that Cry4 doesn't fluctuate based on birds' sleeping habits is a big hint that it is the protein responsible for birds' ability to sense magnetic fields. In European robins specifically, Cry4 is present in even higher concentrations during the migratory season, ZME Science reported.

Despite the promising results of these studies, further research is required before the mystery of birds' homing instincts is solved. Read more about these new discoveries at Science News.

Explore More

Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.