Pigeons' homing instinct is all down to smell

Scientists have discovered the secret of pigeons' remarkable ability to navigate perfectly over journeys of several hundred miles. They do it by smell.



Research found that pigeons create 'odour' maps of their neighbourhoods and use these to orient themselves. This replaces the idea that they exploited subtle variations in the Earth's magnetic field to navigate.

'This is important because it is the first time that magnetic sensing and smell have been tested side by side,' said Anna Gagliardo, of the University of Pisa, who led the research.

The discovery that birds have an olfactory positioning system is the latest surprising discovery about bird migration. Birds know exactly when to binge on berries or insects to fatten themselves for long flights, and some species recognise constellations, which helps them to fly at night. Birds also travel immense distances: the average Manx shearwater travels five million miles during its life.