SkarpHow Migrating Birds Find Their Way
A foundation-level audio series exploring how birds combine celestial and magnetic compasses, estimate their position from environmental gradients, and improve navigation through experience. Simple displacement experiments reveal that migration relies on several interacting systems rather than a single biological GPS.
The first lecture plays free — no account needed.
Course Content
1 modules · 6 min total
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A route can begin as a program and become a map
A young migratory bird faces a different problem from an experienced adult. On its first autumn journey, it has not yet visited the wintering area. It can still depart at an appropriate season and maintain a broadly suitable heading for a suitable duration. This inherited direction-and-time program is called vector navigation.
Picture an arrow drawn on a map: "fly southwest for this long." The arrow can carry a juvenile surprisingly far, even without knowing its current position.