1. zooillogix
  2. Birds Have Bionic Vision

Birds Have Bionic Vision

By bleimanb on September 28, 2007.

Birds have the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field, and now scientists believe that they may actually "see" it with their eyes. According to a study posted on PLoS, a molecule known to be in birds' eyes that is sensitive to magnetic fields is directly linked to a part of birds' brains where visual information is processed.

i-a3fecf30f98b9a5c680122e2fc921b35-Bird Eye.jpg
I see London. I see France...

As the study puts it, "In garden warblers, Sylvia borin, the cryptochrome-expressing retinal ganglion cells and a neuronal cluster located in posterolateral regions of both forebrain hemispheres ("Cluster N") show high, sensory-driven neuronal activity as indicated by the expression of the Immediate Early Gene ZENK during magnetic orientation [12]-[14]..."

Ok, we have no idea what that sentence means, but the point of the study is that birds can see magnetic fields...or....something.

i-ed41a42fe87ba04322af0276fb30e3da-Bird Eye II.jpg
Two, well trained (and armed) special forces members as seen through the eyes of a bird in a South American jungle.

At any rate, the study sheds light on how migratory birds can consistently find their way across large distances, through all different weather conditions, year after year, without any electronic equipment. Scientists are speculating that the birds can align themselves with a magnetic compass that is actually in their field of vision. How they manage to so accurately crap on our heads, however, remains a mystery.

Tags
bird
birds
magnetic fields
Vision

More like this

New and Exciting in PLoS ONE
Steve Irwin's last paper is not the only exciting article to appear on PLoS ONE today - there are 40 more, and here are a few I am excited about - a veritable embarassment of riches! When am I ever going to find time to read them all! Oxytocin in the Circadian Timing of Birth (hey, it's by Erik…
Homing in on magnetoreception
The question of how birds migrate long distances has long baffled researchers, and there are various hypotheses about which navigational cues birds use when migrating. Over the years, it has been suggested that migrating birds use smell, visual cues such as the position of the sun, the geomagnetic…
Power lines disrupt the magnetic alignment of cows and deer
Farmers and herders have known for centuries that herds of cattle have an uncanny ability to all point in the same direction. Last year, a group of German and Czech scientists discovered the reason behind this alignment - unbeknownst to humans for thousands of years of domestication, these animals…
Are cryptochromes involved in magnetoreception in migratory birds?
Scientists discover molecule behind birds' magnetic sense: "Some birds, notably migratory species, are able to detect the Earth's magnetic field and use it to navigate. New results from a team of Franco-German researchers suggest that light-sensitive molecules called cryptochromes could be the key…

I really enjoy reading Zooillogix. Please do post more often!

Talking about birds crapping on our heads, one managed to do it when I was running in a 100m sprint. To think of the probability of parabolically moving crap falling on a linearly moving tuft of hair is simply beyond me.

Aditya, that you're moving doesn't matter unless the bird was aiming for you. And even then, modulo wind resistance, all the bird has to do is match your velocity and bombs away.