How do birds know where north is?

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_migration

this should help

Answer 2

omg, this is so funny... people here actually think that ornithological migrations have something to do with the solar flares or something... NO! Birds have a hereditary trait that stems through magnetism. Kind of like how fish move with the drifts in the ocean, birds move with the polarization of magnetism found in our Earth. It has nothing to do with the sun or even a sense of direction; it's more or less swimming downstream; they just do it naturally. Many people feel that the Earth's magnet is slowly shifting, as it does so every couple ten-thousand years or so. When the birds start going crazy and flying into sh*t everywhere, you can start to get worried. Until then, just remember that birds fly because of science, not religion and not the sun.

Answer 3

There is even evidence that birds navigate by the Sun, Moon and stars. In a study by Dr. Stephen T. Emlen of Cornell University, indigo buntings were kept in a planetarium. In the planetarium, day and night could be simulated. The days and nights were shortened to simulate spring migration periods. As the projection of the stars was rotated, these birds tended to go in different directions accordingly; they appeared to navigate by the north star! We can use the north star, Polaris, to ascertain latitude, distance north of the equator. The altitude of Polaris in the sky will indicate your latitude.

But birds seem to use other methods for navigating as well. There have been studies with homing pigeons where the birds were put in light proof boxes and transported to another place and released. In most cases, the birds immediately found their way home.

A recent discovery of bird navigation comes from Cornell University where William T. Keeton of Cornell discovered that pigeons (and some bees) have trace amounts of magnetite in their brain tissue. Magnetite is a compound of iron and oxygen which apparently makes the birds aware of north south magnetic orientation. Keeton released blindfolded homing pigeons which immediately found their way home. But when he released the same birds with small magnets attached to their necks, the magnets seemed to affect the birds navigational ability and the birds became disoriented.

So it seems that birds may navigate by various methods, combinations of visual, sensory and magnetic methods. Whichever methods they use, it enables these birds to navigate thousands of miles with remarkable accuracy.

Answer 4

I don't think birds fly seeing the direction. They start and end the day with the Sun. Sun and Moon are God's natural clock, calender and compass. They might help them as they help human,,The only living being who has all the senses is human.

Answer 5

It has recently been studied and proved that birds can't detect magnetism, but instead, they have a very sensitive sense of smell and most of their brain is dedicated to analyzing these smells. They use their sense of smell to navigate.

Answer 6

Birds have these things called magnetoreceptors which can actually sense the earth's magnetic field. Basically, they have a built-in compass.

Answer 7

Instincts

Answer 8

The sun

Answer 9

of course by position of sun

Answer 10

Think about that for second before you ask it again. How does the Sun come up and set???

Answer 11

the sun helps them