Internal clock disrupted: Jet lag after long-haul flight? Also occurs in birds
Birds use the sun to orient themselves during long-distance flights. However, their internal clock can get out of sync - similar to that of humans.
Researchers at the University of Oxford have found that birds may experience a form of jetlag during long-distance flights. By analyzing GPS tracking data from 3,688 flights of Atlantic puffins over 20 years, they discovered that the birds' internal clocks can deviate from the local time by up to an hour, leading to navigation errors.
This can cause the birds to slightly deviate from their course as they rely on the sun to navigate. The study suggests that this phenomenon is similar to the jetlag experienced by humans, but it does not appear to result in significant detours for the birds.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
