Do some birds have magnetic eyes?
source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427324.200-magnetic-eyesight-helps-birds-find-their-...
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- richjm
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Scientists have discovered that birds like the European robin are able to navigate using the Earth's magnetic field via their eyes. It's not that the birds are able to see anything we can't but rather that they host a sensory compass in their eyes.
Via a visual centre in the brain and light-sensing cells in the eye - not magnetic sensing cells in the beak - European robins are able to figure out which direction north is in and navigate accordingly.
The discovery obviously raises important scientific questions. Being neither a scientist nor a pragmatic man, I'm just curious to know what happens when you poke a magnet in a European robin's face.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427324.200-magnetic-eyesight-helps-birds...
Via a visual centre in the brain and light-sensing cells in the eye - not magnetic sensing cells in the beak - European robins are able to figure out which direction north is in and navigate accordingly.
The discovery obviously raises important scientific questions. Being neither a scientist nor a pragmatic man, I'm just curious to know what happens when you poke a magnet in a European robin's face.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427324.200-magnetic-eyesight-helps-birds...
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