Seabirds racing home over the ocean can get jet-lagged
A long flight home from feeding grounds messes with birds' internal clocks.
Jet lag, a condition that affects humans when their bodies are out of sync with local time, isn't limited to people. A new study published in the journal Science reveals that Manx shearwaters, a type of seabird capable of flying hundreds of kilometers daily across the North Atlantic, also experience this phenomenon. The study, conducted by Patrick Lewin, a behavioral and sensory ecologist at the University of Oxford, shows that the birds' navigation skills, which rely on the Sun as a compass, are disrupted by jet lag, thereby affecting their ability to navigate accurately.
These birds, similar in size to a pigeon, are characterized by their white undersides, black feathers on top, and exceptionally long wings. They predominantly breed in burrows on coastal islands around the North Atlantic, with the majority of their population residing in the UK and Ireland, with half of the population living in Wales.
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- Seabirds racing home over the ocean can get jet-lagged arstechnica.com
