Seabirds racing home over the ocean can get jet-lagged
Summary
A study of Manx shearwaters found that their internal clocks can fall out of sync with local time as they fly across longitudes, affecting how they use the Sun to navigate home. Researchers analyzed 3,688 foraging trips recorded by GPS from 1,045 birds over two decades.Key Facts
- Manx shearwaters nest on coastal islands around the North Atlantic and travel out to sea to feed.
- The birds are thought to use a map sense to locate themselves and the Sun as a compass to set their direction.
- Using the Sun as a compass requires an internal clock that tracks the time of day.
- The study says a shearwater's clock falls about four minutes out of sync for each degree of longitude it crosses between sunrise and sunset.
- The resulting clock mismatch can make a bird's Sun compass steer it off course.
- The researchers analyzed GPS tracks from 3,688 foraging trips by 1,045 birds from colonies along the UK's western coasts.
- The tracking records covered trips lasting from one day to two weeks and were collected over 20 years.
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