What's happened
New science shows Manx shearwaters’ internal clocks drift when they cross longitudes, shifting their sun-based navigation and causing minor course errors. Adults correct in flight; first-time migrants may drift hundreds of kilometres, especially when returning east across the Atlantic. The finding uses two decades of GPS data to reveal how timing affects wild navigation.
What's behind the headline?
Brief
- The Sun serves as a compass for many day-flying animals, with the internal clock keeping track of time of day.
- When Manx shearwaters cross longitude, their internal clock drifts by about four minutes per degree, biasing heading and line of flight.
- Adults largely compensate; first-time migrants face larger deviations.
What this means
- Navigation errors are not only a matter of landmarks; timing mismatches play a crucial role in wild conditions.
- The study demonstrates the persistence of a sun-based compass in natural habitats, even when the clock is imperfect.
Implications
- Better understanding of migratory strategies could inform conservation, particularly as birds navigate changing daylight patterns with climate shifts.
How we got here
Researchers have long studied biological clocks in animals. This study tracks wild Manx shearwaters over 20 years, linking daily dusk/dawn clock resets to navigation errors during Atlantic trips. The work suggests that sun-based navigation relies on an accurate internal clock, which recalibrates at sunrise and sunset.
Our analysis
The Japan Times reports a 20-year study showing that Manx shearwaters drift off course when crossing longitudes due to clock drift; The Guardian provides field data indicating limited impact on adults but potential large deviations for first-time migrants; Ars Technica offers detailed mechanism of how sun-based navigation interacts with the birds’ internal clocks.
Go deeper
- Will other migrating species exhibit similar clock-driven navigation errors?
- How might climate change and daylight changes affect these birds’ navigation in the future?
- Could GPS data improve conservation strategies for novice migratory birds?
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Science is the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and one of the world's top academic journals. It was first published in 1880, is currently circulated weekly and has a subscriber base of around 130,000. Because institutional subscriptions and online access serve a larger audience, its estimated readership is over 400,000 people. Science is based in the District of Columbia, United States, with a second office in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom.
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United Kingdom - Country in Europe
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