

In the Blink of Bird's Eye, a Model for Quantum Navigation - ecthiender
http://www.wired.com/2011/01/quantum-birds/

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pavel_lishin
> _That second field was so weak — less than one-third of 1 percent of Earth’s
> field — that it could only have influenced a quantum-sensitive system._

While I love the idea of quantum robins, if I had to place a five dollar bet
somewhere, it would be on that assumption being incorrect.

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trhway
Wrt. strength change - the Earth's field would easily change 1% depending on
your location, so definitely shouldn't be an issue for a sea/continent
crossing birds.

What is special about the second field is that it was probably much more -
several orders of magnitude - curved than the Earth's field (which for
practical purposes of flying to Africa is a bunch of straight lines pointing
to South). I'd bet those "ripples" and "criss-crosses" was what confused the
bird. And in addition the field was oscillating :)

From the article :

"Moreover, in the 7-MHz oscillating field, this effect depended on the angle
between the oscillating and the geomagnetic fields. The birds exhibited
seasonally appropriate migratory orientation when the oscillating field was
parallel to the geomagnetic field, but were disoriented when it was presented
at a 24 or 48 degree angle. "

