Science

Long-distance flights can throw seabirds' internal clocks out of sync, causing navigation errors

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Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 29/10/2026, 18:10:24 UTC.

Briefings

An Oxford University study published in Science found that long-distance Atlantic flights cause seabirds to misalign their internal circadian rhythms with local time, leading to predictable navigation errors. This biological clock desynchronization explains why birds flying across the Atlantic often fail to orient themselves correctly by the sun, a phenomenon previously observed but now mechanistically explained.

Key points

• Seabirds flying long distances across the Atlantic experience a mismatch between their internal body clocks and local time, causing navigation errors.
• The study was led by Oxford University and results were published in the journal Science.

Context

This research explains a known phenomenon where birds flying across the Atlantic often fail to orient themselves by the sun. The study provides a biological mechanism for this navigation error, linking it to circadian rhythm desynchronization.

Limitations

The evidence is limited to a single study published in Science. The specific number of birds affected, the duration of the flight required to cause desynchronization, and the exact percentage of navigation errors are not provided in the source.

Generated by Bittrees-hosted qwen35-2b sha256:aaf42c8b7c3c on 29/10/2026, 19:31:14 UTC. Based on publisher-provided feed evidence; may not cover the full original article. Check the source for details.

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