When bar-tailed godwits fly across the Pacific towards New Zealand, they need a very precise sense of what course to fly. Strong winds could push them too far east or west, and they could miss the islands altogether. It is thought they use a combination of cues, including a kind of magnetic map, sun angles, star movements, and landmarks to correct their course as they go.
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New Zealand Herald
Reference:
10 October 2002
Photograph by Greg Bowker
Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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