A new study published in Science reveals that Manx shearwaters, seabirds that travel hundreds of kilometers across the North Atlantic, experience jet lag similar to humans. Because these birds navigate using the Sun as a compass, jet lag skews their directional sense by disrupting their internal clock relative to the Sun's position in the sky.
Background
Manx shearwaters are known for their long-distance migrations across the North Atlantic, covering hundreds of kilometers daily between their nesting sites in the UK and Ireland and their feeding grounds. Solar navigation in animals has been well-documented, but this is among the first studies to link circadian disruption directly to navigational errors in wild birds.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Oct 31, 2026 at 07:15 PM
- Score
- 6.0 / 10