PiCAS INTERNATIONAL

German scientists believe that they have discovered how pigeons, and other migratory birds, manage to find their way back to their breeding sites.  It is claimed that tiny iron particles located in the birds’ beaks allow them to navigate by using the earth’s magnetic field, in the same way as we use a compass.  Through the signals picked up via the particles in their beaks the birds are able to assess where they are in relation to their breeding site and navigate the most direct route ‘home’.

There has been much debate on the subject of how pigeons find their way ‘home’, in some cases over huge distances, and this appears to be yet another theory.  One recent theory suggested that pigeons follow roads in order to return ’home’ and in the film ‘Valiant’ it was suggested that pigeons navigate by using the sun and the stars.

This recent research, led by Gerta Fleissner and published in the latest edition of Naturwissenschaften, used x-rays to examine the upper beak of pigeons.  It was found that within the nerve branches of the skin there are tiny iron containing particles arranged in a 3-dimensional pattern. Fleissner concluded that these particles allowed the bird to react to the external magnetic field of the planet and as a result navigate its way ‘home’.  Fleissner also claimed that these particles are found in a number of other species of birds including robins and warblers and suggested that this navigation theory may also apply to other species of bird.