USGS scientist proposes birds are using low-frequency acoustic signals radiated from the land to navigate

[Emily]

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2744

Media Advisory: Unraveling the Mystery of Avian Navigation
Released: 3/29/2011 3:00:00 PM

MENLO PARK, Calif. ? How birds find their way over great distances during homing and migrational flights is the subject of the U.S. Geological Survey public lecture on Thursday, March 31st. After nearly half a century of intensive research, biologists are still unable to agree on how birds manage to navigate with such uncanny accuracy.

Scientists have been asking ? do they use their sense of smell, the Earth's magnetic field, or another means to find their way home? Research geophysicist Jon Hagstrum will describe new findings that indicate birds are using low-frequency acoustic signals radiated from the land surface to determine where they are relative to their journey?s destination.
Who: Jon Hagstrum, Research Geophysicist

Interesting that a geophysicist is studying bird migration, but someone who focused on bird navigation in association with the University of Illinois years ago had a background in electrical engineering, rather than ornithology.

Wish I could have heard this presentation, but here is an a newspaper article about the work.

http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_17753701?source=rss
USGS scientist proposes that migrating birds 'hear' their way home
By Lisa M. Krieger
mercurynews.com
Posted: 03/31/2011 11:00:00 PM PDT