Who needs a compass? Get thee a pigeon!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Pigeons use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate. So where do they keep the magnets?
Ask Clivia Lisowski and team at the University of Bonn.
They checked pigeons’ organs, for cells that contain iron. Turns out, the pigeon’s liver responds to magnetism.
How does that help with navigation? Researchers removed iron-storing cells from the liver, then released these birds to find their way home on a cloudy day.
Incredibly, even well-trained honing pigeons couldn’t navigate back! Without the sun as a guide, these birds needed their magnetic livers to fly south.
Huh. Better make sure thy homing pigeon doth not drink and fly!
Clivia Lisowski et al., Homing pigeon navigation relies on superparamagnetic macrophages under overcast conditions. Science 392,985-991(2026).DOI:10.1126/science.ady2486