How do birds know they are going in the right direction when they migrate?

Question: How do birds know they are going in the right direction when they migrate?
- Keywords:
  bird,
  direction,
  migrate
Asked by ameb to Charlotte, Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 19 Jun 2012.
- Kevin Mahon answered on 19 Jun 2012:
  
  Birds have various means of navigation that they use – it varies with species, but most use landmarks and other visual cues as well as using the stars to navigate. Interesting work that is currently coming out is looking into birds that have magnetically sensitive cells in their face – an amazing adaption that may aid them in finding north.
- Joanna Cruden answered on 19 Jun 2012:
  
  Interestingly the navigation points Kevin speaks about are the same for why whales can navigate across oceans

ameb commented on 19 Jun 2012:

Thats pretty cool, I don’t think birds get enough credit for their brainpower! 🙂

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Kevin commented on 19 Jun 2012:

Very true, they have been rather unfairly bunched in with lizards and bith incorrectly thought to be dumb! All kinds of cognition research coming out is showing that birds are far more capable brain wise than we previously thought!

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Question: How do birds know they are going in the right direction when they migrate?