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Story: Bird migration

Michael Walker

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Michael Walker

Many migratory birds and other animals are able to detect magnetism and use it as a navigation aid, but how they do this is not certain. Michael Walker is a New Zealander who has researched this question, investigating deposits of the iron-rich mineral magnetite in the brains of pigeons, bees, trout, tuna, stingrays and other animals.

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New Zealand Herald

Reference: 13 November 2003 (NZH-1001663)

by Paul Estcourt

Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Christina Troup, Bird migration – Navigation and the magnetic field, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/7243/michael-walker (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Christina Troup, published 2 March 2009.