Magnetic orientation of garden warblers (Sylvia borin) under 1.4 MHz radiofrequency magnetic field.

Magnetic orientation of garden warblers (Sylvia borin) under 1.4 MHz radiofrequency magnetic field.

Kavokin K1, Chernetsov N2, Pakhomov A3, Bojarinova J4, Kobylkov D2, Namozov B5.

Abstract

We report on the experiments on orientation of a migratory songbird, the garden warbler (Sylvia borin), during the autumn migration period on the Courish Spit, Eastern Baltics. Birds in experimental cages, deprived of visual information, showed the seasonally appropriate direction of intended flight with respect to the magnetic meridian. Weak radiofrequency (RF) magnetic field (190 nT at 1.4 MHz) disrupted this orientation ability. These results may be considered as an independent replication of earlier experiments, performed by the group of R. and W. Wiltschko with European robins (Erithacus rubecula). Confirmed outstanding sensitivity of the birds' magnetic compass to RF fields in the lower megahertz range demands for a revision of one of the mainstream theories of magneto reception  the radical-pair model of birds' magnetic compass.

© 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24942848?utm_source=October+2014+Newsletter-+Birds%26Bees&utm_campaign=Oct+2014+Newsletter&utm_medium=email