Study
Eurasian Reed Warblers Compensate for Virtual Magnetic Displacement
Kishkinev, Dmitry; Chernetsov, Nikita; Pakhomov, Alexander; Heyers, Dominik; Mouritsen, Henrik
Current Biology, 2015
Adult reed warblers were tested in orientation cages while coils reproduced the magnetic field of a site roughly a thousand kilometres away, with the birds themselves never moved.
- Studied in
- Acrocephalus scirpaceus
- Sample size
- adult reed warblers tested in orientation cages inside magnetic coils
Birds shifted their headings in the direction that would compensate for the displacement the simulated field implied, despite no other cue having changed.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Magnetic information alone can supply positional information to an experienced migrant — a magnetic map rather than only a magnetic compass.
How NatureHQ reads it
The experiment that separates a magnetic map from a magnetic compass more sharply than any other, because nothing moved: only the field was changed, and the birds behaved as though they had been carried. It is also the reason NatureHQ does not say that every magnetoreceptive animal has a map — this is one of very few species where the map half has been shown at all.
- Adults only, and adults with route experience; the result says nothing about first-year birds.
- Cage headings rather than a journey, and a single population.
Moving the magnetic field instead of the bird
If a bird corrects for being carried a thousand kilometres, is the magnetic field enough on its own to tell it that it has been?
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Animal navigation
Knowing which way is south does not tell an animal where it is. A compass gives direction; working out position from an unfamiliar place is a separate ability, and far fewer animals have been shown to have it.
Animal navigation
Change only the magnetic field around an adult migrant — leaving it exactly where it is — and it shifts its heading as though it had been carried to the place that field belongs to.
Published by: Cell PressPublished in a Cell Press journal.
doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.08.012
Checked against Crossref on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-09-03.