Physics of Bird Migration

It is spring, and we went to check out the migratory birds returning from their winter grounds. It is pretty incredible to think that some of them have crossed desserts and oceans on their journeys, and they still manage to find their way back to the same locations every year.

Produced by: Jonas Stenstrom

Filming help by: Louise Fornander & John-Mehdi Ghaddas

Don't forget to subscribe to this channel for more great science videos!

Our GEAR ------------
(By buying through these links you help us support the channel)

On Social --------------

Here are more links to our work:

[UntamedScience]

Well. You probably picked up on the fact that we'd really like to make full length videos, but funding constraints keep us producing 3 minute pieces. Thanks for the for the comment though! Could you say they always leave you wanting more... :)

[UntamedScience]

Thanks! Always happy to make homework more fun!

[navstar]

The magnetic field detection aspect of bird migration is very widely treated as a self-sufficient explanation of bird navigation - when it can't be, by the simplest rational thinking! Suppose someone gave you a super-duper quantum mechanics based (or whatever) compass & asked you to navigate from your present location to somewhere you've never been. Say Beijing, Manilla, Gibraltar etc etc, for example. Which direction are you going to head in? Er... If you have a map, fine. If you don't you won't know where to begin! That "map" or it's biological equivalent is the really interesting thing 😟! And that map of the Earth's surface has to have make accessible the 3-D vectorial nature of the Earth's magnetic field - at any given moment in time - with immense accuracy to achieve some of these astounding migration results to specific locations (even for newly fledged birds)...

[Novak]

The quantum things just made exited as hell.

[planetnuvo]

Can you please tell me if birds migrate at night? 

[NoahOutdoors]

I want to see magnetic fields...wicked

[neeedleinahaystack]

Your videos are good but they always feel like you could have done a bit more, like they are unfinished.